“I’ll take you now,” he said.
There has been a raging debate on various forums about the conditions and care of the tigers in Thailand’s two most famous tiger parks: Tiger Temple and Tiger Kingdom. After having had our fast and loose elephant experience, I researched both tiger parks very carefully to see whether we should go at all, and if so, which one we should try.
The big draw to both parks is that people can pay money--and not very much--in order to go inside the cages with the tigers, sometimes just for photos and sometimes to interact. Having paid attention to several recent news stories of people being attacked by pet or zoo tigers, I had no real desire to touch or interact with a full-grown tiger. I wasn’t really afraid of getting my picture taken with a tiger, but really, what’s the point in that? Both parks also had opportunities to interact with tiger cubs, which sounded more appealing.
Mr. Korn, when broached on the subject, was highly dismissive of Tiger Temple, located in Kanchanaburi, about an hour or two from Bangkok. It was started by a monk, who supposedly took in a tiger in order to save it. The tiger died, but he continued to take in tigers and opened up the site for tourists. Supposedly, the money he collected was to go to tiger welfare, but no is quite sure if that’s happening. There had also been allegations that the tigers were drugged, so that it would be safe for the tourists to go into the cages, but other people refuted that, saying that tigers naturally sleep most of the day, so of course they’ll look tired.
Korn was unusually negative about Tiger Temple. “That monk,” he said, “he just wanted a tiger as a pet.”
“Do you think they drug the tigers?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “But Tiger Kingdom is better.”
Much as I liked Korn, I still could not give his opinions the benefit of the doubt. Some part of me thought he was still hustling tours. Still, after reading extensive reviews and opinions, I concluded Tiger Kingdom might be the better choice.
We climbed into Korn’s car and drove off. I had deliberately planned to go in the last hours of the day, as one review had said all of the cats were much more lively either in the morning or the evening. I knew enough to figure that was true, so we were aiming to be there around 5 pm.
In the car, I chatted with Korn, who was naturally pretty talkative, and grilled him on all things Thai. According to him, the average Thai earns about 5000 baht a month, which averages about $200 USD. Rent takes about 1/5 of that--for only a small one bedroom, and taxes are five percent. I expressed surprise, but he scoffed, “It can’t be higher than that. No one could pay and still live.”
Kinsey noticed some yellow and white paint marks--a sort of pattern of spots--on the interior of the car, above Korn’s head, so I asked him what those were for.
“When a Thai person buys a car,” he said, “he takes it to the monk and the monk blesses it and makes the marks, to keep the person safe.” I joked that it appeared only the driver was safe in his car, since the marks were only over his head.
Apparently, monks will also bless motorbikes, but those marks wash off. Thereafter, Kinsey always noticed whether the cars we rode in had marks. All vehicles except one had marks, although each varied a little in pattern, color, or placement.
About thirty minutes later, we arrived at Tiger Kingdom. It was late afternoon, sliding into evening, and it had cooled down considerably. The parking lot was nearly empty, and I was surprised to see that the tiger park was newly built and professional-looking. Somehow, I had imagined that it would be dirt and chain link fence. I went over to buy tickets.
At Tiger Kingdom, you are free to look around as much as you want, but you pay only to go in and be with the tigers. You have to choose which type of tiger you want to interact with, and the tigers are divided up by newborn, cubs 3-6 months, cubs 6-9 months, yearlings, and adults. Prices vary, going up for the younger tigers. The newborn cubs are actually not available for touching, and I had heard that you should be careful in choosing, as tigers grow very rapidly, so even the cubs that are 6-9 months old are pretty large. Not wanting to be responsible for Kinsey getting mauled, I chose the tiger cubs, 3-6 months old.
The ticket seller pointed us in the general direction, but told us we’d probably have to wait for awhile, so we wandered off to see the other tigers. As we walked around, I relaxed, and actually felt okay about coming to Tiger Kingdom. The tigers were in chain link enclosures, but everything looked very clean and well taken care of. The enclosure areas were carpeted in grass and most had a nice swimming area. Very few tourists were around, and the keepers were in abundance. One keeper was going from cage to cage and engaging some of the tigers in play…kind of a keep away game with a long bamboo stick that had a mop of real leaves attached to it. There was a lot of leaping, pouncing, and water splashing involved. Some of the younger cubs were playing and chasing each other.
After watching the larger tigers, we went back to the cub area for our turn. We had to go in barefoot and wash our hands, bringing in nothing but our cameras. There were three cubs in our area, and we were given ten minutes. One of the cubs just wanted to sleep. The other two were more active, but didn’t necessarily want anything to do with the tourists. We were not allowed to pick them up or put them on our laps, but we could pet them and take as many pictures as we liked, as long as there was no flash. After we arrived, a young girl about 8 years old entered and the keepers put her in all sorts of positions with one of the cubs, which I rather disliked, but the cub, who was mostly just sleeping, didn’t seem to mind. After our ten minutes was up, we departed with a lot of pictures, though honestly, not that much interaction.
Back outside, we headed over to buy some fish food and camel food. Feeding the fish was fun--a bag for 10 baht--and the fish would swarm and convulse as soon as the food hit the water. Camel food turned out to be small bundles of fresh grass, but the camel loved it, pulled hard from your hand, and chomped enthusiastically.
We found Korn and told him we were ready to go. In passing, he mentioned that the place is usually packed in the daytime--most tour groups come for lunch--which is ironically the worst time possible to see the tigers, but Tiger Kingdom apparently has a really good restaurant so that’s when the buses come.
I smiled at our good fortune. The tigers had been an unexpected joy. The traveling is getting better every day.
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