One of Destination Asia’s service providers, Asian Oasis, has announced that it will no longer provide elephant rides with any packages. Instead, the rides have been replaced with tea plantation trips to provide an educational encounter with Thailand’s natural habitat, focusing on the Araksa Tea Plantation in Chiang Mai province. Araksa Tea Plantation is located on a picturesque hill and specializes in growing Assam tea. Those taking part in the Araksa Tea Plantation program will get hands-on, learning how to pluck tea leaves under the instruction of local tea pluckers before learning how they are processed using traditional practices.

Guests also visit the roasting station where a demonstration on the art of tea making is given – showing the process from kneading to roasting the tea leaves.