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Excellent 4.80rating (21)

Visit and Help Elephants

location
1 - 1 weeks  ·  Age 18 - 50+

rating  Excellent 4.8  · 
  Verified by Volunteer World
  Very high response rate

Highlights

  • Volunteer alongside majestic elephants, working towards reintroducing them to their rightful natural habitat
  • Be a catalyst for change in vital conservation initiatives aimed at rescuing elephants from distressing conditions
  • Make a positive impact by teaching English to local communities and raising awareness about the plight of captive elephants

Highlights

  • Volunteer alongside majestic elephants, working towards reintroducing them to their rightful natural habitat
  • Be a catalyst for change in vital conservation initiatives aimed at rescuing elephants from distressing conditions
  • Make a positive impact by teaching English to local communities and raising awareness about the plight of captive elephants
  • Immerse yourself in the enchanting forests, witnessing the awe-inspiring natural behaviors of elephants in their native environment
  • Help out with our research program, which will bring around higher welfare for elephants nationwide


  • Especially good for

    Age 18+
    Singles
    Couples
    Families
    Groups
    50+

    About the program

    We are an award winning foundation, working in partnership with the local communities to bring their elephants home to the forest. A must do for elephant lovers!

    Our Sanctuary 

    If you want to have a unique experience hiking in the forest to find the elephants and observing their natural behaviours in their home environment, then Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is the right place for you. Come and join us for the experience of a lifetime. Guests must be ...

    About the program

    Our Sanctuary 

    If you want to have a unique experience hiking in the forest to find the elephants and observing their natural behaviours in their home environment, then Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is the right place for you. Come and join us for the experience of a lifetime. Guests must be physically fit to hike up and down the mountains to get to the elephants. In our sanctuary, you can see exactly where your donations are going and how they are benefiting our sanctuary, our elephants and our community.

    Our sanctuary has rescued 7 elephants from the tourism industry and we have now brought them home to live out their lives in the forest, in semi-wild conditions. We need volunteers to help us keep these elephants happy and healthy in their natural habitat. With volunteer support and donations, we hope to return more elephants to the forest soon. 

    Our Village 

    Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is set amongst the rolling hills of Northern Thailand in a Karen hilltribe village. It is surrounded by a forest that is perfect for our elephants to roam and forage in. 

    The Karen people are originally from Myanmar but they have migrated to Thailand in search of a better life during the wars over many generations. Due to this they have their own language and culture, which volunteers will have the opportunity to learn and experience. They are keen weavers and are well known in Thailand for their elephant keeping. They make an income from their elephants and working the fields, mainly growing rice and corn using rotational slash and burn. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn more firsthand about their culture and even help out with the community when required.

    Your Stay 

    Our days begin with early morning hikes through the forest to find the elephants, staying with them while observing and taking data on their natural behaviours until lunch. Some days lunch is eaten with the elephants in the forest, a very unique experience! Hikes will usually return to the village around early afternoon but the day doesn’t end there. 

    You will have the opportunity to participate in teaching English to the homestays and to the mahouts.  You will also learn about elephants in Asia and the local language and culture. We also have a number of add-ons you can choose from including relaxing with a Thai massage or learning how to basket weave. 

    Volunteers/guests can stay with us for 2days/1night or 3days/2nights. Longer stays are welcome too, please send an inquiry.

    Your tasks

    Volunteers must come with an open mind and be prepared to work with and experience another culture. 

    You will have the chance to experience a diversity of tasks. Please be aware that tasks may vary depending on the time of your arrival and your own preferences.

    Some of the tasks include: 

    • Performing research on the natural elephant behaviors and on the surrounding forest
    • Taking part in community projects such as teaching English at the school and to other locals
    • Helping  with our waste management education projects, such as litter pick-ups and eco-bricks. 
    • Helping out the community in the fields, for example, planting and harvesting crops 
    • Taking care of the village animals, such as the dogs and cats



    Typical day

    Volunteers and visitors are expected to wake up early in the morning and be prepared for a long hike into the forest. Hikes will usually return to the village around early afternoon but the day doesn’t end there. Volunteers and visitors will have the opportunity to participate in teaching English ...

    Typical day

    Volunteers and visitors are expected to wake up early in the morning and be prepared for a long hike into the forest. Hikes will usually return to the village around early afternoon but the day doesn’t end there. Volunteers and visitors will have the opportunity to participate in teaching English to the home stays and to the mahouts as well as learn about the elephants in Asia and the local language and culture. 

    Your Rough Schedule:

    Day 1: Pickup from Chiang Mai at 9am. Travel through a national park and stunning mountains inhabited by local hill tribes until you arrive in our unique village. Meet your homestay family, our friendly staff and the other volunteers, immerse yourself in hill tribe culture by cooking with your homestay and learning how to basket weave from one of the elders in the village.

    Day 2: Wake up early to hike in the forest and find our elephants. Once we find the elephants we will spend the morning observing, recording and learning about these amazing animals and their natural behaviours. Have lunch in the forest with the elephants. Return to the village late afternoon and take part in our community & teaching projects.

    Day 3: Another early start to hike to observe our elephants one last time. Return to Chiang Mai in the afternoon.


    Free-time activities

    We have many add-ons in the village that volunteers can take part in if they wish, such as: basket weaving, scarf weaving, Thai massage, bio hikes etc. 

    Free-time activities

    We have many add-ons in the village that volunteers can take part in if they wish, such as: basket weaving, scarf weaving, Thai massage, bio hikes etc. 


    Requirements

    Requirements

    Minimum Age: 18 years

    In order to join the program you need to be at least 18 years old on the program start date. There might be exemptions if you can provide the permission of your legal guardian(s) or if your are accompanied by your parents.

    Language Skills

    You need to speak English (fluently)

    Nationality Restrictions

    No restrictions. Helping hands from all over the world are welcome.

    Other Skills

    Volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

    Time Commitment

    Your helping hand will be required on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

    What's Included

    What's Included

    Services by Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary

    Included in these fees are: transport to/from project/Chiang Mai on arrival and departure, food & accommodation and insurance.

    Accommodation

    We provide an income for our community by housing our guests, volunteers and interns in their own homestay provided by the local people.

    All of our home stays are different from each other, some being a private room inside the family home, others being a wooden hut just outside the family home. Some home stays have a western toilet, others have a traditional squat toilet. Each one beautifully unique, just like their welcoming hosts.

    The accommodation is basic but comfortable and provides all bedding, a mattress, mosquito net, extension cord to charge electronics, filtered water and usually a shared bathroom with cold showers and toilet paper provided. Hot shower may be provided at our base hut (depending on water pressure). Please be aware that during the dry season there might not be a lot of water available in the pipes for running water, but there will always be a bucket of water in your homestay toilet to be used for showering or flushing the toilet. Electricity can also come off and at different intervals during the dry and rainy seasons. 

    Food & Beverages

    Basic western breakfast and Thai lunch & dinner and filtered water included. Home stays will provide a packed lunch and dinner in their home whereas breakfast will be provided at our communal base hut where our visitors/volunteers hang out during free time.

    Internet Access

    Limited access at the project site

    What's NOT included?

    What's NOT included?

    Airport Pickup at Chiang Mai International Airport

    An airport pickup isn't included within the program fees either.

    Flight Tickets

    The nearest airport is Chiang Mai International Airport (CNX) in Chiang Mai. We assist you to find cheap flights to Thailand. FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS

    Travel Insurance

    Going abroad is an adventure and it is always best to be prepared. Sudden illness or injury, cancellation or theft - a travel insurance for Thailand provides security and is a plus to have. GET A QUOTE

    Vaccines

    If you are intending to volunteer in Thailand you should seek medical advice before starting your social journey. Check your required vaccinations for Thailand. VACCINE CHECKER

    Details on arrival

    Programs start on any day, Sunday-Friday

    Availability
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

    Program fees

    2 days (min. stay) 318€
    3 days (max. stay) 348€
    Average fees 812€/week

    Program fees

    812€ per week 1 - 1 weeks Age 18 - 50+

    Payment methods

    Visa Master Card Maestro American Express PayPal

    NO CREDIT CARD FEES


    Duration

    1 - 1 weeks

    Deposit

    The deposit is simply to reserve your volunteer placement. Payments are handled by PayPal, our trusted global payment provider. If you don't have a PayPal account, you can also pay using a credit card.


    Final Payment

    Your final payment will be agreed with Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary during the application process. Common solutions are either via bank transfer or a cash payment at the project site.


    Meet your organization

    Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary

    Excellent 4.8 rating (21 reviews)

    Non-profit - founded in 2015

    Verified by Volunteer World

      Very high response rate

    Coordinated by

    Kerri

    Spoken languages: English

    About the project

    Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary work hard to rescue elephants from tourism, return them to the forest and educate our community on sustainable tourism

    Meet your organization

    Our sanctuary is run by Kindred Spirit Elephant Foundation, a registered NGO in Thailand. We opened our doors in May 2016, with the aim to bring as many elephants as possible back to their natural habitat and, at the same time, to work on educating both the public and the locals about elephant treatment and try to combat illegal trade. We, at Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary, are passionate about elephant welfare and want our elephants to live their lives as naturally and with as little human influence as possible. We do not promote elephant rides or any form of elephant performance.

    We also work very closely with the community of our village where the Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is located. We provide an income for our community by creating homestays for the volunteers to stay in, renting land and creating jobs for the locals. We give back to our wonderful community by teaching English at the school, to the families of the homestays and to the mahouts.

    Our elephants have been taken from a life of inadequate health care, poor diet, exhaustion and entertaining tourists; they were unable to just be elephants. We brought these wonderful creatures back to their natural environment where they are living in semi-wild conditions, free to roam as much as possible and live their lives how they choose to – interacting and foraging. We plan to bring elephants of all ages and sizes home to the forest, but we need your help.

    There are more than 4,000 captive elephants in Thailand, most of who are living in inadequate conditions with incorrect care and lack of freedom. Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary recognises that this is not the right environment for elephants, which is why we are working towards bringing as many elephants as possible back to their natural habitat as well as raising awareness about the captive elephant situation. We work alongside our elephant owners, our community and other organisations to try to bring about a brighter future for all captive elephants.

    Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary needs visitors and volunteers on the ground to help us carry out research on our elephants' natural behaviours, perform health checks on the elephants and teach English to our community. Joining us can provide valuable in-field research experience, teaching experience and the opportunity to live abroad immersed into another culture.

    Our Elephants

    We currently have 4 resident elephants with us at Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary, but with volunteer funds and donations, we hope to return more elephants to the forest soon. We have 3 generations in our elephant family, have a look at their stories below and sponsor our elephants if you want to contribute to keeping them in the forest.

    Too Meh

    Too Meh is our oldest elephant. She is 55 years old and spent her younger days working in the logging industry. When logging was banned in 1989, she was brought to work in the tourist camps where she spent her life entertaining tourists. She spent about 20 years giving elephant rides with a howdah, the iron saddle that is put on their back to carry tourists and gives many elephants back problems. In between elephant rides, she was chained up with very little social interaction time. She has suffered for over 50 years, until now. She is now free to spend her days in the forest, roaming, foraging and interacting with her daughter & grand-son.

    Mae Doom

    Mae Doom is in her early 20s, is the daughter of Too Meh & auntie of Gen Thong. She has spent her life entertaining tourists and was rescued from a camp where she was giving bareback elephant rides. This camp did not recieve alot of customers and sometimes days would go by with no tourists visiting. This meant that Mae Doom would spend days on end chained in the camp, having no social interaction with the other elephants and spending very little time in her natural environment. Now that she resides at KS Elephant Sanctuary, she has finally been reunited with her mother and nephew and has the freedom to learn from her and walk through the forest as she pleases.

    Gen Thong

    Gen Thong is our youngest elephant at 4 years old. Gen Thong has had an even more traumatising childhood than most captive elephants. He tragically lost his mother at the age of 2. His mother was chained to a tree below a wasp nest in the tourist camp and was not being watched carefully. The wasp nest fell on her head and stung her many times. Gen Thong was with her, however being so young he was not chained and was able to run away from the wasps unharmed. His mother was not so lucky and sadly passed away due to the poisons of the wasp stings. He then spent a few months under the care of Too Meh, his grandmother, but was then separated from her to undergo his training. After he returned to the elephant camp, he spent his days on a chain being fed bananas by tourists and giving elephant rides. He has now returned to the forest where he lives out his days learning the natural behaviours from his auntie, grandmother and best friend Boon Rott. We couldn’t be more pleased to have him here at KS Elephant Sanctuary.

    Boon Rott

    Boon Rott is a 10 year old male elephant, who has also lived his life in tourist camps giving rides and performing tricks. When he was born, he was malnutritioned as his mother was unable to produce enough milk. His mother had given birth a few times but Boon Rott was the first of her offspring to survive, due to the combination of her care and their hard working mahouts. Boon Rott has always been highly saught after by many of the tourist camps in the Chiang Mai area because of his high intelligence and ability to perform - some camps using this to exploit him. He is now able to roam free in the forest, not being forced into any un-natural behaviours.

    Information

    If you want to have a unique experience of hiking in the forest to find the elephants everyday and observe their natural behaviours in their home environment, then you have found the right place. Come and join Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary for the experience of a lifetime. Volunteers and visitors must be physically fit to hike everyday up and down mountains to get to the elephants. In our sanctuary, you can see exactly where your funds and going and how they are benefiting our sanctuary, our elephants and our community.

    Volunteers and visitors are expected to wake up early in the morning and be prepared for a long hike into the forest. Hikes will usually return to the village around early afternoon but the day doesn’t end there. Volunteers and visitors will have the opportunity to participate in teaching English at the school, to the homestays and to the mahouts as well receiving education about elephants in Asia and learning the local tribal language and culture. We also have a number of add-ons you can choose such as relaxing with a thai massage or learning how to basket weave. 

    Visitors and Volunteers can stay with us for anything from 3 days to 3 months. Although Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary recommends at least a week to get the full experience of our sanctuary. Students who wish to carry out research for their studies are also welcome.

    21 reviews · rating4.8

    Nadine Reichert rating5

    2024 at Visit and Help Elephants

    I've booked a 2 nights experience and it was wonderful! After we arrived there was a welcome drink prepared and we were introduced to our homestay. Everything very basic but clean and I really liked it. Started early in the morning on the hikes to the elefants. Beautiful landscape and awesome ...
    Gitte Bornak rating5

    2020 at Visit and Help Elephants

    I have never really trusted these places. Our last experience was in India in a so called sanctuary and we were heartbroken, when we saw what conditions the elephants lived under. They were tired up and only let out to ride the tourists. But after a lot of research we found this very special place ...
    Thomas Plamper rating4.8

    2018 at Visit and Help Elephants

    Es war das erste Mal, dass ich Freiwilligenarbeit gemacht habe und das Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary war gleich ein Volltreffer. Kerri hat diese Stätte für Elefanten gemeinsam mit ihrem thailändischen Freund vor einigen Jahren gegründet und baut sie Stück für Stück aus. Es war für mich ...
    Sean Jones rating4.8

    2018 at Visit and Help Elephants

    My daughter and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit the sanctuary last week and had an amazing time. The team have done well to rescue four elephants from poor working conditions and have allowed them to have their freedom back. Booking was easy enough and Kerri was always able to answer any ...
    Diotima Chrobok rating5

    2017 at Visit and Help Elephants

    Ich hatte lange gesucht um einen Ort zu finden, an dem die Elefanten nicht nur ausgenutzt werden sondern Elefanten sein dürfen und habe ihn dort gefunden. ...
    Talia Lehavi rating5

    2017 at Visit and Help Elephants

    My 12 years old girl and me spend a week at the Elephant sanctuary forest up in the northern west part of Thailand. This was a special time to get to know elephants in their natural environment, understand a little deeper their behavior patterns and their place as the 'forest gardeners'. We ...

    Location

    Asia > South East Asia > Thailand > Chiang Mai

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    Travel dates

    1. - 1. Jan 1

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