tiger parks in thailand

[daiwill60]

Does anyone know of a tiger park near Hua Hin

[buksida]

Closest animal park to Hua Hin is the Huai Sai Wildlife Breeding Centre: http://www.tourismhuahin.com/zoo-huahin.php

But no tigers there.

There is another one north near Petchaburi: http://www.wfft.org/

And there is definitely a tiger temple north of Kanchanaburi though, went there a few years ago.

[Irish Kev]

Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi is a must see.
Get up close and personel with these great beasts

[Arcadian]

We went there a while back. The photos with a tiger in your lap, in hindsight, are quite scary. You have to do it though.

[PeteC]

Not for all the tea in China, thank you very much. Tigers are wild predators and eat people, no matter how well trained the handlers say they are. A tiger cub on the lap for a photo is a different story. Pete

[PAINTER V2]

We went to the tiger temple north of Kanchanaburi about 2 months back, although I only went because my wife and father wanted to go, Zoo's are'nt my cop of tea and I stood well back, I'd let them get my wife and dad before me!
We was also told that the tigers are docile mid afternoon because they had been fed and like to just lay there, the adults are chained down and supervised by 2 keepers per beast, oh and if one spray’s you its good luck
It opens about mid day and I think we paid about 1000bht each, can’t quite remember how much, a little bit of advice don't wear any bright coloured clothing if not they won't let you in (the bright colours may startle them), and my wife had to wear the taxi drivers bomber jacket over her pink top, very sweaty.

[Takiap]

Not for all the tea in China, thank you very much. Tigers are wild predators and eat people, no matter how well trained the handlers say they are. A tiger cub on the lap for a photo is a different story. Pete

Hey Pete.......I guess you never watched Born Free and the other two movies in the series. All were 100% true, and what great people that couple was. They worked with lions rather than tigers, but I'm sure there's not much difference. I think if you raise them from cubs, they're pretty much the same as any domesticated animal.

I saw a video a short while back about some guy who had raised a lion and when he went back several years after it had been released into the wild, the loin still recognized him and was jumping all over him in excitement. I'll see if I can find a link and then post it here.

[PeteC]

Perhaps they sell these at the gift shop? Would make a good Christmas present.

man eating tiger.jpg (13.92 KiB) Viewed 4697 times

Yes, I know all about the Born Free story. Unfortunately I simply don't trust them here to get it right. We all know quite well that little is planned here and nothing is anticipated. If someone gets mauled or killed we'll get a big Whoops!, and a knee jerk reaction of closing the park, distributing the animals to different zoos, and TAT striking reference to the place from all their brochures.

I'm just not convinced their motivation is what they say it is and not simply commercial. We read 'crooked Monk' stories about every week. Also, I've read that they keep these animals calm by putting drugs in their food. I'll look for that story again and post if I can find it. Pete

PS: I also don't lie down on my back at shows and let elephants walk over top and around me either. I get enough thrills riding motorcycle taxis.

[Takiap]

I think this is the link for the video clip mentioned in my last post:....


I must say, I do agree with you Pete, about them getting it right over here, and like you say, if someone does ever get bitten, we can expect the usual knee jerk reaction.

There was a case once in South Africa where a game farmers son had a pet Rhino. The young boy and the rhino featured in many TV commercials and it was great to see both boy and rhino grow up together, and if the truth be known, they're probably still together. Of course that rhino was never made available to tourists wanting to pet a wild animal.

To be honest with you, I have no sympathy at all for lion trainers and etc who get mauled. It's the risk they take, and after all, they're working with wild predators. The born free thing was a completely different scenario, where genuine love for the animals was involved.

Anyway, the clip posted above sure is quite touching

[Noz]

There's a lot of controversy surrounding the tiger temple in Kanchanaburi. I've never been so can't comment but there have been many accusations of illegal tiger trading and animal cruelty. Tons of material on the subject are available on the net, such as this:

http://www.careforthewild.com/files/tt_ ... -06-08.pdf

http://thaiwildorchids.com/tiger-temple-abuse.htm

[kendo]

Pattaya crocodile Park also has tigers that pace up and down in there cages, and an Asian Brown Bear that is chained up and was so dehidrated it was foaming from the mouth.

How can anyone get pleasure in watching these beautifull creatures suffer it makes me sick and all in the name of tourism what a load of bo**ocks.

Kendo.

[Takiap]

Pattaya crocodile Park also has tigers that pace up and down in there cages, and an Asian Brown Bear that is chained up and was so dehidrated it was foaming from the mouth.

How can anyone get pleasure in watching these beautifull creatures suffer it makes me sick and all in the name of tourism what a load of bo**ocks.

Kendo.

I agree with you Kendo. Back home (South Africa) there are virtually no zoos left. In fact, I think there are only two in the entire country, but this is because we have so many game reserves where people can still see the animals, but it their natural habitat rather than in cages. I don't know what the zoo in Bangkok is like as I have never been, but I can say I was certainly not impressed with the one in London. The fact is, I don't like zoos at the best of times, but if you really must have one, at least try and make it as nice as possible for the animals.

One of the few goods things I can say about my home country is that they take their wild life very seriously. Even with so much wildlife there, tourists won't find elephant riding opportunities, just as they won't find lion or leopard petting opportunities. The can get to hunt though, but only on privately owned game farms, and only if they're incredibly wealthy. Still, it beats me why anyone would want to shoot an animal just for the fun of it. I know, they like to think of themselves as hunters, but hey, if they are real hunters, why take guns along, and besides, hunters hunt for food, not for pleasure.

We now have too many elephants in the national parks, which means they have to cull. Even so, those excess beasts are not made available for hunting. Even the tusks are destroyed rather than being sold, which of course would fuel the ivory trade.

[hhfarang]

This is why I won't go to those places... animals are unpredictable.

A Swedish man has been attacked during a visit to a Tiger Temple outside Bangkok.

The tigers are taken care of by some of the local monks, and normally they are very friendly. But when Erik from Sundsvall climbed into a restricted area with nine tigers, some of this friendliness seemed to disappear.

”One of them bit me in my leg, and our guide had to hit it to get it off me. ” the Swede says to Sundsvall newspaper.

He was never scared inside the area, the Swede adds to the newspaper.

"It was probably lucky, because it feels like it could have ended worse if had been scared," he says.

”The tiger didn't seem aggressive – but seemed more playful."

Now, Erik has to take medicine against rabies to make sure that no diseases come as a result of the tiger bite.

[Arcadian]

I think the clue could be "he climbed into a restricted area"

[hhfarang]

I've heard of similar maulings happening during photo sessions with tourists with the handler present too... and not just in Thailand.