点评:Much debate exists as to whether the elephant sanctuaries advertised all over Chiang Mai are truly ethical, or whether we as tourists should patronize such places. We researched several and Happy Elephant Home seems to be as nice a place for elephants as one can expect. They have four female elephants, all of whom have previously been subjected to work in the animal entertainment industry, and here they have quite free rein, with large areas to roam around and ample food and individual mahouts. We did not see any evidence of chaining. We were allowed to hand feed elephants watermelon and touch them and pour buckets of river water on them at the river, so if you are concerned about that sort of interaction, be aware that it happens here. I would like to believe that the elephant’s lives here are better than they would be in a traveling show (one of them came from a circus) and I know that they are treated better than the cows that are turned into fast-food hamburgers. The guide was friendly and spoke excellent English. Morning tour went from 7 AM to 2:45 PM (door to door to hotel). Good for kids age 6+. Walking about 30 minutes on uneven terrain and some mud.
翻译:关于清迈到处宣传的大象保护区是否真正符合伦理道德,以及我们作为游客是否应该光顾这些地方,一直存在很多争议。我们调查了几家,快乐大象之家(Happy Elephant Home)似乎是目前为止我们所能找到的对大象最好的地方之一。那里有四头雌象,它们之前都曾在动物表演行业工作过。在这里,它们可以自由自在地活动,拥有广阔的漫步区域、充足的食物和专属的象夫。我们没有看到任何拴着它们的痕迹。我们被允许亲手喂大象西瓜,触摸它们,并在河边用桶装河水浇它们。所以,如果您担心这类互动,请放心,这里确实有这样的活动。我愿意相信,这里的大象生活比巡回表演团里的大象(其中一头来自马戏团)要好得多,而且我知道它们受到的待遇也比那些被做成快餐汉堡的牛要好。导游很友好,英语也说得很好。上午的行程从早上7点到下午2点45分(从您家门口到酒店)。适合6岁及以上的儿童。步行约30分钟,路面崎岖不平,部分路段泥泞。