Wear swimwear under quick-dry clothes, and bring something light to pull on over it for the elephant visit.

You’ll be on the river for about an hour, so swimwear goes on before pickup. Swimwear isn’t compulsory — any comfortable quick-dry clothes work — but choose darker colours, especially in rainy season, when the river runs brown and white or very pale clothes can stain. Cotton t-shirts and jeans soak through and stay cold; leave them at the hotel.

The elephant visit happens straight after the float — we don’t go back to base camp first — so if you’d rather not walk through the elephant camp in wet swimwear, bring a sarong, t-shirt or light cover-up. Our team carries a dry bag on the float and keeps it dry for you until the elephant stop.

Ordinary flip-flops or sandals. You do not need to buy special water shoes.

There’s nothing to hike on this tour — you walk into the riverside area with the elephants for about 30 minutes. When you get on the tubes, staff check whether your flip-flops might slip off and float away; if so, they tie them together and keep them with the guide on the water, then hand them back before you walk into the elephant area.

A dry change of clothes, sunscreen, insect repellent, a light cover-up, a little cash for drinks, and a padlock if you have one.

• A full dry set of clothes for after the river (we give you a towel)
• Sunscreen and insect repellent — carry the repellent with you on the float and put it on before the elephant visit; mosquitoes gather around the elephants, and the free waterproof pouch is a handy place to keep it
• A sarong, t-shirt or light cover-up for the elephant camp, kept dry in our dry bag on the float
• Sunglasses; a light rain jacket in rainy season (June–October)
• Cash for drinks on the water — water and snacks are free; soft drinks and beer are sold on the tube and paid for at the end
• A small padlock for the free locker, or rent one at base camp for a small fee

We provide a life jacket, a waterproof phone pouch, a glasses strap, a hat and a towel, free to borrow; drinking water and snacks are included.

At base camp you’ll find a waterproof pouch for your phone, a strap for your glasses, a hat and a life jacket (put on at camp). After the river there’s a towel for everyone and four hot-water showers with shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Pouches and straps go back at the end of the tour. Free Wi-Fi at camp: network “TubingChiangMai”, no password.

Lunch isn’t included — this is an afternoon tour, so eat before pickup. After the river there’s a snack of fried banana and cold watermelon at base camp; tea, coffee and Milo are free at camp, and extra drinks and snacks are cash only.

Jewellery, watches and big bags — anything you’d hate to lose in a river.

Rings and watches come off easily in the water. The lockers are free, but valuables are safest back in your room. Your phone in the free pouch is the one electronic thing worth bringing; anything you carry on the water (phone, GoPro, camera) is at your own risk, so clip it to the tube with a strap. A large suitcase that won’t fit a locker can be kept in our office during the tour.

You step ashore from your tube and spend about 30 minutes in the riverside area where the elephants are. This is observation only — nobody rides, bathes, hand-feeds or touches them.

The elephants are looked after by Care for Elephants, a camp on the right bank of the river; their keepers do all the feeding. You walk into the riverside area rather than watching from the far bank, and you see whatever the elephants are doing that afternoon — foraging, dust-bathing, going into the water. What you see depends on the day — we can’t promise a particular scene. Your guide tells the story of Thailand’s elephants and the shift from riding to observation.

Pickup in Chiang Mai around 11:30, on the river early afternoon, elephants straight after the float, showers, then the drive back. Times are a guide, not a guarantee.

• 11:30 pickup from Chiang Mai city, roughly a 5 km radius from the Old City — about 1 h 15 – 1 h 30 to base camp. Driving yourself? Your start time at base camp is 13:15.
• Briefing, change, lock your bag → 2-minute truck ride to the put-in (the stretch of river beside camp is white-water, so we drive past it)
• 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 on the tube depending on the water level, with the guide floating beside you, a waterproof speaker and a cooler of cold drinks
• If elephants come down to the river during the float, we stop and wait for them — sightings on the water are never guaranteed
• About 200 m before the end, step ashore at the elephant camp for roughly 30 minutes with the elephants
• Back on the tubes for the last ~200 m, then a 10-minute ride back to camp
• Self-drive guests: the SaGee waterfall slide, a 5-minute walk behind camp
• Hot shower, a snack, then the drive back — earlier with a small group and clear roads, later in heavy traffic. The whole afternoon is about 4 hours if you drive yourself, about 7 with the transfer. If you have plans in the city afterwards, book them for 20:00 or later.

Only if you drive yourself. With the transfer there isn’t time — after the elephants it’s a shower, a snack and the drive back to the city.

SaGee is a natural rock slide where you cool off and wade — it’s too shallow to swim. There’s a children’s section with no minimum age and a separate adults’ section. Nobody is made to slide: the guide demonstrates first, then it’s your call which section to try, or whether to just watch.

We float the calm stretch of the Mae Taeng: under grade 1 in low water, grade 1–2 at most in rainy season. Non-swimmers are welcome.

This is not rafting. The grade 3–4 rapids are elsewhere on the same river and are run by the rafting companies. Everyone wears a life jacket fitted at base camp, the tubes are tied together, and the guide is in the water with you the whole time, steering the group around rocks. You lie back in the tube much like a hammock for around an hour. There’s no strict weight limit — we have larger tubes for bigger guests.

Children from age 1 with an adult, depending on the river that day; pregnant guests can join up to six months.

In the calm low-water months even toddlers float; when the water is high the guide may set a higher minimum, and a child who can’t go in can wait at our base camp office while the adults float. Travelling with younger kids, or pregnant and unsure? Message us before you book and we’ll tell you honestly what works. If you have a heart condition, asthma or a serious medical condition, check with your doctor first.

Normal rain doesn’t stop us. If the river is too high we tell you in advance and move you to another day free of charge; if it stays unsafe, we cancel and refund in full.

When it rains we check the river against the community water-level marker near the bridge before the tour goes out; the tubing time changes with the river level, and the guide decides on the day, on safety alone. Accident insurance is included for every guest — up to ฿500,000 medical per incident and ฿1,000,000 cover — and we still recommend your own travel insurance.

The guide films the tubing and the elephant visit on an Insta360. If you booked on our website, the highlight video and your tour photos are included and sent to you after the tour.

With a small group you’ll usually have them before you leave camp (AirDrop for iPhone); on busy days we send a Google Drive link afterwards. The waterfall slide isn’t filmed.