I was very fortunate to spend 4 days at an elephant sanctuary in the northern part of Thailand last September. The Chai Lai Orchid seems like a mystical retreat in the mountains, but it's an actual place. The Chai Lai Orchid is an eco-friendly organization which rescues elephants that have been abused in tourist shows or other organizations. It offers the opportunity to interact with elephants in an ethical, natural way while learning about them at the same time. Chai Lai Orchid also partners with Daughters Rising Thailand, whose mission is to rescue women from neighboring countries and parts of Thailand where they are at risk of being sex trafficked. Chai Lai Orchid serves as a safe house for these individuals, where at the same time, they learn business-related life skills that will help them at Chai Lai and beyond.
As almost all travel has been shut down, it is serving a hard hit to the elephant tourism industry of Thailand. The money that would be coming in from visiting guests has been eliminated; therefore, the funds for feeding elephants has gone away. I hope that someday you have the opportunity, just as I did, to visit and experience Chai Lai, but I also hope that if you have the means that you will consider donating to this organization in their time of unprecedented need. The link is below to donate.
charity.gofundme.com/o/en/campaign/savechailaiorchid/daughtersrisinginc
Chai Lai Orchid website - chailaiorchid.com
