I have Poon booked for one day next week and i asked Ratt to say i wanted to do
Elephants
Doi Suthep
and some local crafts.
After reading some posts on here and other boards am concerned about the well being of the animals at certain places.... am i right in thinking that Poon would ONLY take me to a good elephant place??? (i did mention in my emails about them being treated nicely)
not sure what to do, would be horrified if i saw any abuse of elephants
Jane

The Elephant Conservation Camp at Lampang is excellent. You might asked her to take you there. The elephants are well cared for; no abuse (there's a hospital on the grounds for the injured, sick, etc.). The show is entertaining; watching the elephants bathe is fun; the elephant ride through the jungle is beautiful (can ride for 15 or 30 or 60 minutes); the grounds are well cared for and lovely. The food at the restaurant is tasty (not the best you'll have, but inexpensive). I would recommend this elephant camp. Here's their web site.
http://www.changthai.com/

We just returned from Thailand last month and just LOVED the entire country, but the northern area was the best. Happy travels!

I would not leave it up to Poon. I would let her know you want to go to the Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang but you need to tell her before the day since you need to leave a lot earlier than if you go to some of the other places. She will probably want to pick you up at around 7:30 -- maybe earlier I can't remember.

Kywood - what time of day did you visit the Lampang elephant camp? I had wanted to do the full day experience, but couldn't arrange to get it booked. If you just show up and want to see the show, look around, and have a half hour or hour ride, can the rides be done at any time, or must you be there at a certain time? Thanks!

Thanks everyone.
Lampang was were i was thinking and hoping. I did tell Ratt to tell Poon and she came back to me to say could we meet earlier (at 8am) to fit in all the things i wanted to do.
I actually emailed ratt this morning just to confirm that Poon will be taking us out next week. So maybe i will just email her again and mention Lampang....

Thanks again
Jane

Althom1122,
You don't need reservations for the show, ride, etc. Our driver (arranged by our hotel, Baan Orapin) arrived at our hotel about 8:30. It was about a 1 1/2 drive on expressway. Probably 1/2 hour of that was getting out of CM. We arrived about 10:00, saw the show twice (show times are posted at the ticket counter); took a ride (no scheduled times, just whenever there's an elephant available and there are many elephants for hire to ride); roamed the gardens; had lunch. We left about 4:00. Very enjoyable day.

I suggest you go earlier because then you can see the elephants being bathed which is a highlight.