When you go to Thailand one of the first things you will notice is the depiction of elephants everywhere! They are on temples, flags, shirts, pants, and adorable statues around the country. They are clearly part of the Thai identity, but for as much as they are a symbol of Thailand the treatment of the actual animals in Thailand isn’t spectacular.

While most of the western world has outlawed using animals in circus shows and what not, elephants are very much still a part of many shows in Thailand. They were used to help with logging. And more recently, they are a huge tourist attraction! Meaning that many of these extremely intelligent animals are being forced to give rides, be bathed, and fed by random strangers all the time. While being bathed and fed might not sound too bad, think about it. Would you be comfortable with random obnoxious tourists doing this to you everyday when you just want to be left alone? What is worse, however, is the rides. Elephants' bodies are not made for riding, this is very damaging to them.

So, what do you do? You want to come to Thailand and see these majestic animals, but you don’t want to contribute to their misery.

So, you decide to go to an elephant sanctuary. That sounds nice, right? The problem is that not all sanctuaries are created equally, or ethically. While I walked around Chiang Mai I saw ads for sanctuaries one can visit all over the place, claiming to be ethical. However, on the same poster they have a picture of some hot white person cuddling with one of the animals. For the record, I would not trust an ad like this.. Sounds like green washing to me.

Luckily for me, I had already found where I was going before coming to Chiang Mai. I asked a local to direct me to some options that were actually ethical and she recommended BEES - Burm & Emily's Elephant Sanctuary. Of course, I needed to do my own research, and after seeing nothing but five star reviews everywhere and very strict rules about not touching the elephants I reached out.

One of the things I liked best about BEES, and why I ultimately chose them over another option, is that they didn’t make it sound like it would be a tourist attraction. You will go to help out around the sanctuary, no more, no less. They didn’t have a big itinerary set for you. You just will help out with what is needed on the day to day.

So, let’s dive into the BEES - Burm &Emily's Elephant Sanctuary experience!

BEES is located a few hours outside of Chiang Mai. For this reason you have to at least spend one night at the sanctuary. However, you can stay for three nights or a week as well (I’m sure more is an option, but this is what is advertised on their site). I went with the three night stay, which included the stay and all my food. I am vegan and BEES was super accommodating for my diet. This was very appreciated as being vegan wasn’t always super easy in Thailand. Check out my Traveling Vegan - Thailand article here.

They picked me up in the morning on a Thursday from my hotel in Chiang Mai and put me in the back of an open safari truck for the ride out to BEES. Along the way we stopped at a beautiful waterfall, a local market, and a second waterfall for lunch. I was with three other younger girls, two traveling together and another solo traveler. Everyone was very excited and passionate about how ethical BEES is.

When we arrived at BEES we joined up with an older couple making us a group of six. I was pleasantly surprised at how small the group was, and after a day it reduced down to just the couple and I as the rest of the girls only stayed for one night.

Like I said, you can find elephants on shirts and pants..

Let me tell you about their elephants!

They have three lovely older ladies who lived hard lives, but the BEES family has fought to give them the best final resting days as their time comes to an end. They have Mae Kam and Mae Dok who are both in their 60s and friends. Every day they go out foraging through the local jungle together – exploring, eating, and bathing in the river! One of the coolest parts of the visit was getting to follow these two amazing animals along the river from a safe distance as they enjoyed their day.

BEES third elephant is Thong Dee, who is in her 70s, and feeling her age. Thong Dee has been with BEES for nine years now, but it seems her time is coming to an end. It was truly heartbreaking to see her, as it is to see a parent or grandparent deteriorating in front of you. There is nothing that can be done, but try to make their life as positive as possible. It was clear everyone at BEES felt this way and love Thong Dee with all their hearts.

As Thong Dee isn’t doing as well she needs a lot more attention and doesn’t have the mobility of the other two. A lot of the helping around the sanctuary we got to do was helping with her. Everyday she is made a big salad of banana trees, bananas, watermelon, corn, and more, which we got to help prepare for her. I even got to cut down some banana trees myself for her. I am very strong!

She also has trouble keeping herself warm in the evenings so every night at 9pm sharp we would stop all our card games and music to go build Thong Dee a giant bonfire to help her stay warm through the night.

The BEES Family

While not everyone who works at BEES is related, although many of them are, they certainly act like a family! Emily, an Australian, met Berm, a Thai, when she went to visit an elephant sanctuary as a teenager. Berm was working as a guide and it was love at first elephant. Through the years they have worked together to make their dream of opening an ethical sanctuary come to fruition and start their own family together. In the process, they have also brought in a lot of the local village boys (and a few girls - Joy’s food is amazing!), many who are related to Berm, to help out at the sanctuary.

A very large part of the experience is getting to better know these amazing local people. I spent a lot of my trip to Thailand doing touristy things and not really getting to connect with the Thai people. So, I was very eager and excited to spend a few days really getting the feel of the locals. And I wasn’t disappointed. Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. Every night I got to play card games with the boys and Joy as we listened to Berm sing and play the guitar. Emily recanted fascinating to terrifying stories of her life in Thailand – which she wouldn’t give up for anything in the world! She did convince me that being vegan in Thailand is 100% the right choice though. Check out my article on being vegan in Thailand here!

One of the most amazing things about these people is where their heart is. There is no doubt in my mind that the BEES family loves the elephants with all their heart. Both Emily and Berm openly cried over Thong Dee’s declining health as they bent over backwards doing everything they could imagine to help her. The local Thai boys and Joy were full of life, were eager to learn English, taught me tons of new card games through very broken English – welcoming me into their group, but also were so responsible. The second they were needed for a task they dropped everything to go do it. We would be mid game and they would be like, ok, it is time to make the fire for Thong Dee, and that would be that.

BEES is open to the public because that is how they fund taking care of these amazing aging animals. It is the only way they can afford their medicine and home. I encourage you to book a stay with BEES to meet the whole amazing family – elephants, humans, dogs, and cats alike! It is very important that you book in advance, as a high welfare facility they limit their numbers making walkins not available. If you can’t visit or you just want to do more, please also consider donating to them. You can donate here! You can “adopt” an elephant here! Or help buy supplies here! They would love to bring another elephant into the pack, but currently don’t have the funds to do so. Any elephant who can be welcomed into the BEES family will be lucky and happy to be there.