At Chalong Elephant Retirement, we have an experienced staff who spends the majority of their time with elephants. They know how to communicate with the elephants and understand the nature, personality, behaviors, emotions as well as their favorite foods. We call them a “Kwan” or Kwan Chang”. For a person to become a Kwan, they have to inherit the knowledge from their family who were Kwan for generations before. They will grow up learning about elephants every day until they become the Kwan themselves. That way Kwan will understand and treat elephants with care and respect.
Once you enter the camp, you will be directed to the information area where the staffs will explain elephant history, science, facts, and other information such as what they eat or what they enjoy doing. We will teach you how to prepare their food, let you to feed them with the food you prepare and maybe take some pictures with them.
We have 2 pool zones, one is a spring water pool. We take water from natural sources like waterfalls which will allow you to feel closer to the nature. The elephants also enjoy it more than tap water. The other pool is for mud baths. The mud is as pure as the water, we only use the mud found above water sources which can be found when villagers dig for water to utilize in the household and to consume. You can be sure that the mud contains no chemicals but instead is rich in minerals which are good for your skin. A lot of our visitors love to apply it on their skin. The elephants also love the mud bath very much. They will just throw themselves in the mud and get it all over their bodies. Sometimes it is almost impossible to get them out of the pool. It feels like a spa and who doesn’t love spa right!
After the fun time with the elephants, we present you with Thailnd’s most famous dish, Padthai, for lunch! To be more exciting, we will teach you how to make Padthai from scratch! You will get to enjoy your (probably) first Thai dish cooked by you. It is fun and practical. You will then have a new dish to put in your cookbook.
When you are here, we are treating you as if you visiting a home. We want you to experience the wholesomeness, friendliness and the happiness of the camp. We often had our visitors have their birthdays, anniversaries and even marriage proposals!
From the beginning to the end of the day, we wish to create a memorable moments and make your time visiting here worth every minutes. Our aim is always to help the elephants that need our help, provide shelter, food, medical care, entertainment, to make sure this (known to be nearly extinct) being that has been with Thailand since the beginning of time, stay alive as long as they can.
