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He's asleep and no matter how much we shake him he won't get up. It's early in the morning and it's a long way home, but like a grumpy teenager he just wants five more minutes. You can't blame him; he's in elephant heaven.

Elephants are one of Thailand's big draws, and in their time have been employed as anything from beasts of burden to machines of war. Their images abound from sarongs to handbags to the label on your Beer Chang. But since the ban on logging in the mid 1980s, many of the country's jobbing jumbos have found themselves downsized to the tourist trade. Trekker's Mecca Chiang Mai is now surrounded by elephant camps, offering the usual blend of activities, shows and rides. And though the profession of the mahout - the lifelong human trainer, driver and companion assigned to each animal - is still alive, in the cutthroat market of Thai tourism many of its more noble traditions have been forgotten.

Appalled at the less-than perfect conditions in which the majority of working elephants are kept, in 1996 former tourist guide 'Lek' Chailert decided to offer an alternative. Set amongst the wild terrain of the Mae Taman valley, today the Elephant Nature Park offers visitors the chance to get to know these noble beasts not from a distance but right in your face. No saddles, no chains, no confinement. It's cheap, comfortable and family-friendly and what's more, it's ethical.

Now a benchmark for Thailand's embryonic ecotourism industry, the 100-acre park has since featured on the National Geographic and Discovery TV channels, counting celebrities such as Meg Ryan as among its friends. Part of its mission to prove to the rest of the tourist industry that it is possible to keep elephants in an ethical manner and yet make them earn money. Each individual of the resident herd of 15-20 animals has in fact been rescued from some kind of ill-treatment. One was blinded; one lost a tusk to poachers; two were orphaned.

'Volunteers' (overnight guests are required to participate in the running of the camp and upon application via the website or the agents in Chiang Mai there's a quick vetting process) should be aware the Elephant Nature Park is no five star luxury resort. Situated 50km north of Chiang Mai, it nestles in a river basin miles away from any restaurants, bars or nightclubs. It's a sanctuary first; a tourist centre second.

Life there depends on the season. During the dry period from November to March, for example, there's an urgent need to swish around the vegetation with old machetes collecting fresh fodder. On occasions, guests can join the 'Jumbo Express' helping distribute veterinary attention to working elephants kept by remote hill tribes - a unique spin on the region's ethno-tourism business (of which the benefits are often dubious). Everyday routine, however, is based on and around the animals themselves, so be ready to muck in.

After a help-yourself breakfast of jam and toast, volunteers grab buckets and brushes and wander down to the river that snakes through the camp. Despite their thick skins, elephants are prone to parasites and other irritating conditions so for them it's a bonus, not a gimmick. Of course it's still great fun for the visitors and from the amount of playful splashing you can tell the elephants love it too.

Should you choose you can then take an elephant for a half-hour constitutional. But don't expect to be perched on a seat on the elephant's back like at Chiang Mai's more typical trekking centres. "An elephant's neck muscles are much stronger - this is where the mahout traditionally sits," explain camp staff. "Seats are not good for an elephant's spine - far from it - and they have been known to affect elephant pregnancies." And once you've ridden an elephant bareback, its bristles of wiry hair pricking against your legs, you'll know the difference. Though it feels odd for a while, riding this way is an interface between man and beast. You connect. What's more, those seats look so colonial.

At around noon a pick-up truck laden with the treats of the day - bananas, pineapples, papaya - rolls up and the feeding frenzy begins. Guests are expected to get involved, and it's another opportunity to bond with elephants up close. It's a messy time (after a few minutes you'll be covered in fruit pulp and elephant snot) but a magical one. There is nothing quite like the rubbery but dry touch of an elephant's skin or communing with the supple gentleness of 100,000 muscles of its trunk to convince you that you are in the presence of an equal intelligence.

Perhaps the park's biggest departure from trekking industry conventions are these opportunities to get to know the elephants. Yes, each animal has a character, a personality of its own. Sumbun squeaks to attract your hand. The youngsters Hope and Jungle Boy are boisterous and full of fun. Missing his tusk, Bhun Khum is stately and reserved. Simply being in the presence of elephants at large educates the visitor like no circus or even safari ever can.

Every few days the elephants and mahouts begin the leisurely trudge to 'Elephant Heaven', an area of natural forest managed by the park after a generous donation from an American backer. After negotiating a river - on foot mind you, but to the elephants it's no hassle to bear you across if you don't want to get wet - it's a steep climb through the rainforest to the top of the hill. Again, if jungle trekking isn't your cup of tea, take a ride and save your legs.

There, at the end of the journey, the elephants are released to roam in the jungle as nature intended. While the visitors rest the elephants crash around until nightfall, stuffing themselves with natural foliage. Meanwhile, over an open fire the guide rustles up dinner for mahouts and guests alike. This is real Thai cooking: traditional flavours, spices and textures traditionally prepared.

Visiting elephant heaven means a night out in the jungle: OK, the beds are hard, there's odd noises in the darkness and even one or two creepy-crawlies but it's an experience never to be forgotten. Assuming you've slept, once daybreak comes visitors hook up with a mahout and set off to track down the elephants for the journey back to the valley. If you've never seen a sleeping elephant before, now's your chance. It's a sight to behold. Not many people ever get the opportunity to witness an animal's natural behaviour in its natural environment at quite the proximity they can here.

The Elephant Nature Park likes to keep the numbers down; there's only limited accommodation and crowding is not good for the animals. While at US$260 per week it's hardly expensive, it's not as cheap as its rivals either. But, explains founder Lek Chailert, "when people come here they see that all of the money goes to the elephants themselves." There are few places in the world where you can get to know animals this close and this personal, yet know that you're doing the right thing. People come here without expectations, says Lek; when they leave they've fallen in love.

www.elephantnaturepark.org

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