Have no fear going to Chiang Mai with kids as there’s plenty of things to do.  Both Mae Sa Waterfall and Bua Tong Waterfall are suitable for kids, although probably kids over 5 will be willing to climb up Bua Tong Waterfall. If you haven’t already, read the full story about both these waterfalls in our things to do in Chiang Mai guide.

First up, the King Cobra Snake Farm, or as I call it, King Cobra’s in Concrete cages. We visited the King Cobra Snake Farm on our way to the Elephant Trek. It’s pretty much as expected, old, run down and snakes kept in atrocious conditions, basically they’re just in cages with an old tire as a house.  If it wasn’t for Grobbler loving snakes and reptiles so much we wouldn’t have gone here but he loved it.  It’s pretty small, you can spend half hour here at most, and 15 minutes of that is taken up with the snake show, which again is exactly as you’d expect, tacky and pretty lame.  Grobbler thought it was awesome and he would have gone back, but it’s really a once at most experience and if you’ve seen other snake farms or shows, this one isn’t going to be any different.  

There’s three iguanas there and the guys take them one of them out the cage so you can pat him, which is pretty cool. Actually the staff are pretty good and to hold the python, you don’t need to pay extra or give any tip, yet the guys are happy to give you some time with him and do the obligatory photo session.  It doesn’t take much effort to make the snakes living conditions even a little bit better so if you’re coming to Chiang Mai kids and plan on doing any snake farm, just know that they’re not kept in the best conditions.

After the Snake Farm we headed to Mae Rim Elephant Home and if you’re in in Chiang Mai with kids, or even without kids, this is definitely worth doing and about as natural as this type of thin gets.  When you arrive you get changed into another outfit. If you’re shy you’re shit out of luck because there’s no changing area, you just strip off in a room with everybody else.  I suggest you wear togs (bikini or swim shorts) before you show up, then you just take your clothes off and no need to change, except for putting on the outfit.  There’s boobs and willies hanging out all over the show so just go with the flow and you’ll be sweet as bro.

You then get taken to a briefing where you’re taught the elephants names and some Thai words to say to them.  After that you start feeding them while they’re still in their pen, then head off for a very leisurely stroll with the elephants through the jungle.  Along the way you have a few novelties, I won’t say what they are but bring a camera. Speaking of which, they tell you not to bring a camera, but doing it again, I would. There’s a place you can put it near the end and there’s no reason, other than them trying to sell you pictures at the end, that you can’t take a camera.  A GoPro or anything similar would be fine, but if you have an proper camera, just bring a case, it won’t’ get wet until the end, and you can lie it down on some concrete and don’t think it’s gonna get knicked.

Once you finish the trek through the jungle you get to go in a big mud pond with them and plaster them with mud. You then go down to the river and wash them. It’s all good fun, but if you don’t like getting in the mix and find mud between your toes, or any kid of dirtiness disgusting, this isn’t for you.  For most normal people you’ll be fine and again, if you’re going to Chiang Mai with kids, definitely put this one on your list.  Grobbler wasn’t had a load of fun, but he enjoyed it and it’s something you can’t do many other places around the world.  It’s not too touristy, they don’t try and sell you any crap, and the elephants didn’t seem to mind too much.  All good fun so book it.

We went to the Tiger Zoo after the Elephant Trek so were a bit tired.  This, like the snake farm, is exactly what you’d expect from a place that allows you to take photos with the Tigers.   Pretty crawl and not very nice living conditions but anyway, it’s a bit of a novelty for Grobbler and not many other places in the world you can take a photo lying on a Tiger!  For young ones, they only have one option and that’s the cubs, which Grobbler preferred anyway.  We waited while some grown adult by himself got his photo session with the cub, and I think he enjoyed it more than Grobbler did, and would have definitely been in the gift shop afterwards buying up on Tiger soft toys for himself.

Basically you can pay for a session, about 10 minutes, to go in there and if you want photos, you have to pay extra.  And if you don’t pay for the photos, you’re not allowed to bring cameras or even have other people take photos of you from outside their cage.  Anyway you get in the cage, not really a cage, but an enclosure, and get put in a few poses (see photos!). Yeah it’s all a bit tacky but for a kid who loves wildlife, this is quite a thrill.  You can get in there with your kids and join the photo session or just leave them to it.

Overall it’s worth a visit, I mean most likely you’re going to be around that area (with the waterfall, elephants, snake farm and other attractions) so since you’re there, you might as well do this. Don’t know if it’s worth traveling 45 minutes to on it’s own, but because there’s so many other things to do in that area, it’’d be a bit pointless to miss, especially if you have kids that love animals.  So those are my top things to do in Chiang Mai with kids, based on a 3-4 day stay.  You can fit all of those in one day and do the waterfalls another day, well make sure you do Mae Sa waterfall when you’re at Mae Rim as that’s in the area, all not far from each other.  

For information about what to do and where to go in Chiang Mai with kids, email us on our contact page or ask us on Twitter.  See more info about things to do in Chiang Mai including Mae Sa and Bua Ting Waterfalls here.