Overall, the arrangements made by Hug Elephant for our trip, which was recommended on the Trip Advisor app, were acceptable, but we also had some areas of dissatisfaction.
My wife and I came from Beijing and received a brochure for this elephant camp at the front desk of a hotel. I read the reviews on Trip Advisor and Dianping, and the overall rating was very high. Therefore, we ultimately chose the full-day itinerary for 2,500 Thai baht (500 RMB).
Itinerary: (1) Feed the elephants after arriving at the elephant camp; (2) Take a walk along the creek with the elephants; (3) Take a break with the guide at the waterfall; (4) Return to the starting point of the camp for lunch and then take a one-hour rest; (5) Play with the elephants in the mud; (6) Bathe with the elephants. Pros: The environment in the mountains is elegant, and overall the guide is also good. The biggest advantage is that there was a man specifically responsible for taking pictures while bathing with the elephants. He used a Samsung phone to take pictures, which were comparable to many SLR cameras. The depth of field was particularly good, and we were both very satisfied. Cons: (1) Both another woman and I thought the itinerary was too short: The brochure stated 8:00-17:00, but in fact, we started to return at 2:30 pm. (2) They did not provide uniforms, as other elephant camps do (although not necessarily preferred by every tourist, it is at least a common service). (3) They did not provide balls made from elephant dung to help with digestion, as other elephant camps do. (4) The most unsatisfactory and angry thing was that the vehicle arrangements were very unreasonable. Our hotel was located midway between the other three customers and the elephant camp. After picking us up in the morning, we took a one-hour detour to pick up the other three customers, and the entire journey was two hours long. On the return trip, the driver actually chose to drop off the other three customers first (please note that our hotel was in the middle of the three locations) and then drop us off. If the elephant camp had provided air-conditioned vehicles, it would have been fine, but the key was that the Toyota pickup truck was very similar to a "songthaew"! You can imagine how we felt being detoured for an hour each way and with an outside temperature of 38 degrees Celsius. After arriving at the hotel, I complained to the guide about the above arrangements and felt that this kind of arrangement did not match the high price of the elephant camp (there are other elephant camps cheaper than 2,500 Thai baht). Overall, Hug Elephant is still good, but there is room for improvement.