Thai Cooking Class and Elephant Sanctuary: From Market to Forest
Description
• Small group (max 12 people) for personal experience • Fresh, farm-to-table ingredients for cooking • Choice of dishes and proteins • Ethical elephant encounters — no riding, no performing • Real village life and cultural connection • Supports local farmers and elephant caretakers • Free photo service — no extra cost
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your day with a visit to a lively local market, where colorful stalls overflow with fresh herbs, spices, and tropical produce. Learn how locals choose the perfect ingredients for authentic Thai dishes while your guide shares stories about daily life and food culture. It’s the perfect introduction to Thai cooking — full of aromas, smiles, and real local flavor.
Just 45 minutes from Chiang Mai, discover Casa de Mango, an organic farm nestled under Doi Inthanon. Visit a local market, sip herbal tea beneath mango trees, and handpick ingredients for your own 5-course Thai cooking class. Learn from friendly local chefs as you create spring rolls, curry, stir-fry, Pad Thai, and dessert — with your choice of protein. Enjoy your handmade feast surrounded by mountain views, fresh air, and the peaceful charm of rural Chiang Mai.
Meet gentle elephants at Living Green, an ethical sanctuary proudly rated 5 stars on TripAdvisor. Here, elephants are cared for with love and respect — no riding, no chains, no hooks. Watch them roam freely in their natural forest home and learn about their stories and daily life.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
The pickup time will be given based on your hotel location. Please select a hotel from the provided list, if available. If you need to enter the hotel details manually, please ensure to provide both (1) hotel name, and (2) hotel address or Google Map link. If it is not a hotel, please provide (1) the property name, (2) address, (3) Google Map link, and send us (4) the property photo after your booking.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(7)
Perfect excursion. The time spent on each of the activities was good. The cooking class was very pleasant and our guide/chef, Son, was very interesting and very funny. The cooking site was enchanting. I highly recommend it. The second portion with the elephants was also very interesting. We interacted with the elephants directly, quite an experience! I recommend it without hesitation!
Merci pour votre avis. Nous sommes ravis d'apprendre que vous avez apprécié l'expérience. Nous transmettrons vos aimables paroles au chef et au guide de l'excursion ; ils seront très heureux de savoir que vous avez apprécié leur service. Nous apprécions sincèrement votre soutien envers ce sanctuaire éthique pour éléphants et envers la communauté locale. Votre soutien compte beaucoup pour nous et contribue à faire une réelle différence.
Sonia was an exceptional host and made everything fun & easy. Seeing elephants so close was an amazing experience.
Thank you for your review. We are glad to know that you liked the experience. Your kind words will be forwarded to Sonia. Your support to this ethical elephant sanctuary and local community is highly appreciate and so meaningful to us.
We had a really great day. Starting with the pickup by Song our guide and boss for the first half of the day by van until the end of the excursion in the early evening. At pickup Song asked us what we wanted to cook. Several soups and main courses were available. First we were at the market and bought some fresh ingredients for the selected food. We got a good insight into where and how the locals buy their cooking ingredients. Then we went to the farm and cooking school in the countryside. First we got to know some herbs and got a tea made. Then we looked at the whole thing on the plantation. Before preparing the food, we got a few collected ingredients explained and tasted. Now for preparing the food: 1. Sticky Rice prepared - Mango has finished a chef in the background 2. Spring rolls - first the filling made, then wrapped - Song has baked 3. Soup prepared - each according to his choice 4. Main course prepared - also each according to his choice Everything was nicely arranged and we ate the food together. It was very filling and really delicious. the scabs were very balanced and we could season with chili if needed. Throughout the morning Song entertained us with his stories and funny episodes. A really great morning. Finally Song hung us hammocks between the mango trees to relax a little. Just wonderful. Afterwards we continued to the elephant sanctuary, where a Mahout received us. Here we first learned a lot about the character traits of elephants and the background of the animals living here. Very interesting and helpful for later feeding. We all got food bags with bananas and sugar cane - some animals were very picky and only took bananas. Really insanely interesting how the animals orient themselves according to the smell of the food. Really smart animals. The contact so wholeness without fence ind barriers was quite wonderful. Very imposing and sensitive animals. This combination is highly recommended.
Amazing! Spent the afternoon at a peaceful farm making delicious Thai food and then went to feed the beautiful elephants. Sonya was so welcoming and funny! Best thing we did while we were in Thailand.
Thank you for your review. We’re glad to hear that you enjoyed the experience. Your kind words will be shared with Sanya. Your support for this ethical elephant sanctuary and the local community is truly appreciated and means a great deal to us.
I had a fantastic expirience, the cooking class and the visit to the farm was very profecional Everything cooking class and elephant expirience run exactly as the description Every body very good with service and everybody very proud of their country I rally recomend this expirience
Thank you for your review. We’re delighted to hear that you enjoyed the experience. Your kind words will be shared with the team. Your support for this ethical elephant sanctuary, local community, and local businesses is truly appreciated and means a great deal to us.
This whole day was awesome! It started with a quick stop at the market, then proceeded to the Thai cooking class at Casa Del Mango - you have to go here!, the ambience of the farm is serene and relaxing. We were so impressed by our guide, Sonya and the entire cooking team - their coordination as a team was top notch. Sonya is so lovely and accommodating. We had so much food to eat and all ingredients were fresh from the market and their farm. This took half a day and then we proceeded to the elephant sanctuary. This part of the tour was so much fun - we fed, bathe, and observed the elephants. The guide was quick to share his knowledge of each elephant. Overall it was wonderful day and definitely worth the money.
Thank you for your review. We are glad to know that you liked the experience. Your kind words will be forwarded to Sonya. Your support to this ethical elephant sanctuary and local community is highly appreciate and so meaningful to us.
One of the best experiences during my time in Thailand.
Thank you for your review. We are glad to know that you liked the experience. Your support of this ethical elephant sanctuary and local people is so meaningful to us.
