expertvagabondelephants-in-thailand. Please don't ride elephants, but if you do at least bareback..... We are stopping at the Mae Wang lodge its aim is apparently to help with women from Burma to have a decent life. Hiking one day as been recommended. The Mae Wang lodge say they rent the elephants from the elephant camp next door to give them a rest from tourist riding them. I hope this is the case! Difficult to check 100% as saying one thing is easy, but action speak louder. I would prefer to visit saveelephant in Chiang Mai, does anyone know how far away it is from this place? The less people who ride elephant and just interact with them the sooner the Mahouts will get the message! The only people hurting the elephant are the tourists... Remember elephants don't forget :))