Lampang - Thai Elephant Conservation Center and Hospital

This center is located along the highway between Lampang and Chiang Mai, about 28 kilometers north off Lampang.
You can get there by bus, but it is easier if you have your own wheels.

The revalidation center was established to look after wounded elephants.
In the border area with Cambodja, there still are a lot of land mines. If an elephant steps on a mine, this will cause very serious injury, so serious that (a part of) a leg has to be amputated. These elephants are taken to this center, where they will be looked after as good as possible.
This is a difficult task, because the elephants sometimes are very afraid.
Elephants with other kind of injuries are also taken care of in the center.

Next to the revalidation center is a training center for elephants.
Elephants and their driver, the mahout, are trained to work in forestry. This means the elephants learn to listen to the commands of the mahout, and to drag and pile tree-trunks,
A show is performed twice a day. The elephants, together with their mahouts, show what they have learned. It's nice to watch the show, but it gives us the feeling we're in a circus.
This feeling is confirmed by the fact that the elephants also make music and paintings.