Stuff to do in Northern Thailand
17 Reasons to Skip Bangkok and Visit This Northern Thailand City Instead

You can interact with the elephants, walk and care for the dogs, and even stay overnight or volunteer for a week at the sustainable, eco-friendly retreat! Hundreds of dogs and cats live in "kingdoms" on the property and roam through the area, completely at ease and happy with the lives they now have after being rescued.
Spending a day immersed in the work that the people are doing at this sanctuary and seeing the passion they have for rehabilitating and caring for animals was truly one of the highlights of my trip to Chiang Mai. Plus, they serve some amazing authentic (vegan) Thai food that guests can enjoy for lunch during their stay. The sanctuary is about an hour and half away from downtown Chiang Mai, but shuttles run to and from most of the hotels in the city and will pick you up and drop you off where you need to go.