Thailand

Chai Lai Orchid

On May 1, 2019 by

There is no doubt that we will be telling our future children about the two days we spent at Chai Lai Orchid. We experienced the most incredible 36 hours full of Thai jungle, elephant lovin’ and connections with the most genuine of people. Oh, and the best mango smoothie ever made.

I’ll start by saying that we spent a ton of time researching elephant tourism leading up to this trip. We knew we wanted to interact with the elephants, but the practices here are very controversial. Please note that this is our experience only. There are varying resources and opinions on the elephant tourism in Thailand. All we can continue to do is make informed decisions and support those we feel align with our tourism values! Read Chai Lai’s elephant ethics checklist here.

Chai Lai Orchid is an eco-lodge AirBNB that is doing their part to help the elephants, and the women, of Thailand. At first, it may look like just a dreamy elephant camp – and it is. But what’s going on, beyond the surface, is even more incredible. The owner started Chai Laid Orchid as a means to help save elephants in Thailand from unethical tourism practices. She coupled that with a program called Daughters Rising, which helps to keep women from the sex trafficking schemes in Thailand. Women are given “scholarship” through Daughters Rising to live at the Chai Lai Orchid, make a fair wage and learn English and hospitality. Talk about creating a haven of purpose – just incredible!

Unfortunately, none of the elephant “camps” will have the ideal situation: elephants roaming completely free on endless land 24/7. The elephants are in danger in Asia, and places like Chai Lai are simply trying to give them a better life, in the best possible situation for their safety. Elephants have been domesticated in Thailand for so many years, and putting them back into “the wild” would likely result in more horrible practices and poaching. Read more on Chai Lai’s elephant approach here.

Chai Lai has pulled these elephants from Thailand’s trick-based tourism, which uses metal crates for multiple person riding on their backs, among other tricks and circus-like acts. Instead, they allow a half day of basically pampering the elephants! They are fed, bathed and played with – and that’s it! We learned directly from Chai Lai’s professional mahouts (elephant keepers, who live here WITH the elephants) how to interact with the elephants.

Anyways – stepping off the soap box and into this magical place.

How to get there: the location is about an hour outside of Chiang Mai, and transportation is provided by the AirBNB host, for a low cost. Just message them when you book to secure a car. Make sure you ask for a car with AC, otherwise, you’re going that hour in a red truck, holding on to your luggage for dear life – we forgot to ask for this option on the way back to the airport and we were a little miserable for an hour 🙂

We stayed for 2 nights, 1 day at the AirBNB and purchased the “full day experience”. We started our day with our amazing guide Charlie, who took us hiking through the mountains to a secluded waterfall. We swam and soaked up the amazing views.

We continued on to a local Karen Village, where they cooked an authentic meal for us and showed us how they make a living here making scarves. Talk about a humbling experience – to see their homes and daily life. There were not droves of tourists coming through their village, and it wasn’t just staring at the women as if they’re a tourist attraction – as I’ve seen in some photos of Thai Villages online. We liked that we had a chance to really sit and talk with them and learn from them about their daily lives and how to actually make the scarves. Not as easy as you’d think! We ended up purchasing a scarf that Krista helped them finish, which is such a cool take away from this trip!

After leaving the camp, we were transported back to Chai Lai Orchid by bamboo raft. And at this point we were almost left in the jungle – as our raft guide got a bit cocky with his skills and lost hold of his stick in the rapids! Derek luckily grabbed the very end of the stick, while our guide grabbed a low hanging branch of a nearby tree to save us from crashing. Oh, jungle transportation – that was fun 😛

Then came our most anticipated part – interaction with the elephants! We first met and played with a baby elephant and her mama. An interesting fact we learned: they believe that the elephants are showing places like Chai Lai that they trust them now, by having babies. For years, elephants that were in horrible tourism ploys were killing their babies – they think to save them from a life of being used for unethical tourism, or just stress from a bad situation. But now, babies are becoming more and more common – and thriving. And the babies who grow up with humans LOVE to play. This one, Suki, was loving Derek.

Then we helped bathe another elephant who had just finished up with some play time in LOTS of dirt. Bathing an elephant is NO JOKE. They love to just lounge in the water and spray you while you try to manage covering their massive bodies with water! We may still have dirt in our teeth from this activity lol!

Our last portion of the day concluded with a visit to some larger and more mature elephants on the grounds. The staff does a great job of making sure that you are prepared to approach the elephants and gives them ample time to get used to you. We were acclimated with them properly with their mahouts at our sides. We fed them 2 massive bags of bananas, and learned how the mahouts interact and talk to them, and let them get used to us. Remind me to never put my husband in front of two hungry elephant ladies again 😛

After the day of activities – we headed to dinner at the restaurant on location, which is across the bridge. There were tons of options and the food was delicious and affordable! Get the mango smoothie. It was the best we have EVER had! On the jungle side of the bridge, there is a lounge area near the check in desk where guests can hang out, and have some adult beverages while listening to the jungle life. They host an “elephant happy hour” every night, where elephants come to join to be fed bananas. We enjoyed a happy hour and mingled with the other guests. So peaceful!

Note: this is basically elevated glamping. They are wooden tiny house cabins basically, but with great AC, running water, shower, no bugs etc. We were pleasantly surprised by the great accommodations, but we didn’t have very high expectations – knowing we were in the middle of the jungle. If you don’t do nature, and you aren’t willing to forego luxury for a few nights, this isn’t for you.

Additionally, if you have a massive fear of heights, or bridges – this may not be the place for you. You could likely get around this with a full day tour, but not staying on the grounds. The actual cabins are across this slightly terrifying bridge.

If you book here, we recommend two nights, and two days – and request a “morning coffee with elephants” as soon as you get there. We left early the second morning and completely regretted not being able to enjoy that, too!

You can book your stay, here: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23093041?guests=1&adults=1