Did you know you can make paper from Elephant Poo Poo? Well you can! If you are in Chiang Mai with kids, this is a fun afternoon. Look they have Free WiFi too!
Flashback to 2014:
When we had our rental car, we just couldn’t resist the 20 minute drive to the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park. I know, this isn’t likely top on the “must visit” list for most people visiting Chiang Mai. Since we are living here for a few months, why not really seek out what this city has to offer for families?
We remembered how our friend Katie, from The Taylor Family, wrote about building a fire from Donkey Poo. We figured it would be a great homeschool topic and what kids are fascinated with a yuk subject like poo. We also did so much work with the kids researching Asian Elephants for their homeschool presentations. We had just visited the Elephant Nature Park, so it was off to the Poo Poo Paper Park.
You are what you eat!
What do elephants eat? Actually what we were really thinking was, “What is in their poo?”
Asian elephants eat about 200- 300 pounds of food a day. Mainly roots, grasses, bark, leaves, fruits and vegetables, so loads of fiber! Imagine on the exit, it is pretty much the same, just load of natural fibers. Once those have been boiled and cleaned, you have the perfect ingredients to make some paper.
Exploring the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park
This is an eco-friendly outdoor museum and park. This is a self-guided and interactive tour around the park. They have set up several stations, each representing and explaining that particular process towards making the paper.
Surprisingly there was no distinct odor or smell to the park, so we didn’t mind hanging out. We even took the time to chat with several other tourists and have some good laughs.
All you need to do, is follow the piles of poo!
You can quickly walk through the stations in about 20 minutes or take your time and interact with each station. We opted for the complete interaction experience as well as many funny dung jokes along the way. It was quite nice having older kids that were actually interested in the papermaking process and wanted to read the information boards at each station.
We really felt it was best to show you our day via video. It is pretty short, so go ahead and have a peek.
A fun video – The process of making Elephant Poo Poo Paper! (Do watch to the end)
What did we learn?
We learned quite a bit about the true definition of recycling, more about eco-tourism, as well as age-old traditions, and the history of papermaking. There are many crafts you can do in the last few stations and bring home your own works of art. Of course there is a gift shop as well, but we don’t tend to buy any souvenirs. We like to keep our belongings to a minimum for our travels.
Interested in visiting Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park?
- Visit their site for more Info about Elephant Poo Poo Paper Park
- Open Monday – Sunday 9am – 6pm
- Cost: 100 Baht ($3) per person.
- Location – just 20 minutes North of Chiang Mai in Mae Rim
What to do in Chiang Mai!
We also have a very all inclusive list of Things to do in Chiang Mai with kids or without. This also includes our expenses living in Chiang Mai, where to eat and places to stay in Chiang Mai.