.I am interested in spending one night at the Ele consevation camp 60 K north of CM in late March..the huts of course have netting but are not mesquito proofed and have just a fan..how about the risk??? we would take sprays etc....and will I die of heat??

Also have gerd and IBS and am worried about meals (yes I have been to Mexico before so I know about precautions and have read the CDC site info) of course my Dr knows nothing about the camp and he's from Nigeria so just says to be careful..by the way his father was kidnaped from the bank and never heard from again...
.anyway I read a post about people possibly getting sick from bathing with the elephants.
This is dream I've had for many years but don't want to end up in the hospital.

I could get just as sick in Bangkok at the Marriot or in Hong Kong restauant if the wrong people did the wrong thing... Theres a risk to everything but what are the real odds????Am I pushing it?

It was my post about my daughter who was sick...we think from the bathing pool...but we aren't positive. It could have been food or something else entirely. I did not ask at the hospital for a bacteria culture, as they take several days and it didn't really matter to me what kind of bacteria it was, and even if I knew, we'd never know for sure where she picked it up.

The huts have screened windows and a fan. We had no mosquitos inside the hut itself...and were careful with the door when going in and out. Heat...we were there in late December and I froze at night...but March will be warmer.

The food risk there I think is very low. Everything we ate was freshly prepared from freshly bought ingredients for each meal. There was a good variety of dishes at dinner to choose from, some spicy, some not, some vegetarian, some fish, some meat. Breakfast was white toast and deep fried eggs (yes, deep fried - I soaked some oil off of mine with 2 pieces of toast, then got new toast and made a sandwich). Lunch was fried rice and salad. No one was sick. There is always the option of white rice and white toast for anyone who has stomach trouble. There are also a couple of small stores where you can buy packaged food like cup noodles, snacks like chips and such.

Actually, I just read your post again, and noticed you said 60 km north of Chiang Mai...we went to the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang, which may not be the same place you are considering, as the ECC isn't 60 km north.

Anyway, bathing...my husband was in the water with the elephants, too, but didn't get very sick...just a bit. If I could do it over, neither of them would have gotten into the water...but then again, it was SUCH an experience for our daughter that even she, who got so sick, says she'd do it again even if it meant she'd definitely be so sick again. I'd strongly recommend not going into the water if you have any open cuts or scratches anywhere, and do it mahout style...squat on top and not get wet, don't get sprayed, keep your mouth shut at all times.

I'd also spend the 2 nights. I just don't feel one night is enough to do everything on offer and relax into the place.

thanks for the reply..yes I think children get sicker.. my son got the fever and diarhrea in Mexico and it was frightening. I also don't think they keep their hands as clean.

My mother lived in Mexico and she said one must soak fresh fruits and veggies in iodine for at least 15 minutes...it's that important because of the fertilizers they use in third world counties...
Yes, I guess I am considering the other Ele camp I hear these two are better than most..I don't know which to pick...I think if you go in the river you should shower with antibacterial soap before you touch your nose of mouth and that's hard to do as I suspect it is a while before you get back to camp?

Also I do not want to see the cruelty movie as I know full well about it and don't need graphics after all this is suppose to be a vacation...how would they handle that?
Can you pick the Ele you are comfortable with I cant believe they have a male..that is a big nono

You can't pick the elephants, but all were very gentle. There are 200 or so elephants at the ECC, but only 10 can be used for the mahout training program, sometimes fewer. Depends on the time of year. There are a few more that are used for rides.

Male elephants are only a problem during the season that they are in what is called "must"...it's the time that they are hormonally very active and become unpredictable - mating season. During this time, the elephant must be removed from all work and in some cases, cannot be around people at all. This isn't an issue until they reach puberty in their late teens, and then it isn't forever, but about yearly for a period of 2 -3 months/year. It is very easy to know when an elephant is in "must" because a very oily, smelly substance is excreted in vast amounts from the glands on the sides of their heads.

There was no movie about cruelty that we saw. We did visit the elephant hospital where we saw several injured elephants...2 that had stepped on landmines near the Burmese border, 1 that had fought with a tusked elephant and had abdominal wounds, and 1 that had been shot by its owner? mahout? because it was aggressive...male, in "must" and they still tried to get it to do work. Their mistake. All of the elephants receive treatment free of charge...the ones we saw had been there for years, along with their mahouts as the mahout is necessary to handle the elephant.

The river where the elephants bathe is about a 1 minute walk from the accommodation, so you could easily shower after going in the river if you wanted...in fact, I think everyone did just that, and were given dry mahout clothes to put on. You are also not required or forced to do anything you don't feel comfortable doing. I didn't go in the river because I wasn't comfortable.

Although there is a "program" of what you will do, I found that I could very much keep to my pace, which was slow. While my daughter was a star and could go forward, backward, turn, get on, get off both from the side and from over the head, swim and ride anywhere...I was timid and was content to just walk around a bit during training time. I also had an intern ride with me the first day, and she was great..talked the whole time, even held onto me when I was nervous. I did end up enjoying the afternoon trip into the jungle and the morning trip out of the jungle a lot.

I have heard about the place north...the elephant nature camp or something like that. It seems like a fine place as well, but I haven't been there so I can't comment on their programs.

Thank you !very imformative !!Yes children have no fear ...fear is learned...I just saw a TV show of a tourist in Asia that was petting a baby elephant and she got a little annoyed and threw him across the road ...didnt hurt him but even as a baby she was powerful..
..Roy Horn has never been afraid of his tigers but they didnt protect him from the incident..
I was pick up and tossed by a calf.. and it has scared me
interacting with Eles would never be allowed in US...so it does carry an element of risk

Everything in life carries an element of risk - it's just a matter of what is acceptable risk to each person. It sounds as if you might have too many issues with safety and hygiene to really enjoy an elephant camp experience. You might want to consider visiting the ECC for a morning for a viewing experience that does not include touching an elephant. You could watch them bathe at 9:45 and the show that follows the bathing. You could take an elephant ride if you wanted to...one where you sit on the chair and the mahout controls the elephant either while riding on the neck or while walking beside you. If you wanted to, you would have the opportunity to feed the elephants bananas and sugar cane. You could then leave before lunch and not have to worry about the food provided by elephant camp.