wow thankyou. Yes I looked up the tiger temple and it looks amazing! I've always wanted to get up close to a tiger, I think they're amazing! the travel advice is really good aswell so cheers 😊
Reply to this ....the (in)famous Tiger Temple.
I heard some stories about the tigers being drugged and mistreated to make them docile for tourists. Is that what you mean by the (in)?
Does anybody know more about if the tigers are being treated well or not?
Reply to this My better half left the tiger temple in tears. It really wasn't what it's advertised as. The tigers were 'asleep' as it was a hot day. How many tigers would actually stay asleep while a man drags it by the head onto a tourist is debatable. There was one monk in the entire place, the rest of people working there didn;t always treat the tigers the best.
Of course, decide yourself whether you want to go. We heard stories both good and bad before we went and thought we'd never really know if it we didn't see for ourselves. We wouldn't go back tho.
as Choc... says, definitely go to Erawan falls. Absolutely beautiful and great to swim in. It's really easy to get there by public transport.
Reply to this Sadly, that is what I suspected Ant and Alee. Thanks for the confirmation. It makes up my mind about whether to visit that place. 😞 I was going to take my daugher to see it when we were in Thailand, and then somebody told me what it is like there, so I put it off until I can find out more. The tigers used to be looked after a monk who knew how to look after them, but I heard that all changed.
Reply to this Hey Mel,
We found that the area is one huge cash grab for someone. Yes we got the experience of seeing really big cats but the expense was to the animals. Of course this can be said for the monkey's at the monkey shows or the elephants that tourist ride around on, or the alligators at the reptile shows or the marine life at the aquariums in Thailand.
One has to decide at what cost they want to see these animals and make their choice.
We are opting to go to another monkey show just to see baby monkeys (not looking to start an arguement about with this statement).
Reply to this Usually stay away from places that have anything to do with animals in Thailand as I consider them just exploitatation.However,having seen a couple of segments on various TV shows in Aus we decided we'd go and have a look for ourselves.Should have stayed away.Apart from the monetry aspect,500 baht for me,420 baht for my Thai wife,the Tigers just appeared to be completely out of it.Not well looked after at all.And all to get your photo taken with a Tiger.Another thing that was astounding was the amount of Europeans working there.
Don't quite know about the Abbot who used to look after them ,Mell.Heard from a Thai friend that there was some kind of investigation going on about the whole set up.
Reply to this Another thing that was astounding was the amount of Europeans working there.
Did they give any opinions about what is going on?
Mell.Heard from a Thai friend that there was some kind of investigation going on about the whole set up.
Does anyone know who is doing the investigating?
Reply to this Did'nt get a chance to talk to anyone about anything at all.As for the investigation,guess it's probably the Government or a part thereof i.e.taxation.Of course there's been a change in Government since last October,so who knows.
Reply to this We went to the Tiger temple in January 2008. I have read of the mixed reviews and accusations etc so was a bit dubious. The fact is that no captive animal is going to appeal as much as one in the wild. The ones we saw - were generally pretty frisky with two "teenagers" going balistic and obviously having great fun. They looked in pretty good nick to me - they had good coats and seemed well fed (the odd tourist may go mising with a bit of luck!). We spoke with a couple of the handlers - one a pretty switched on Kiwi girl and she seemed quite happy with the set up. I was of two minds after the visit. On the one hand I did enjoy it, and on the other it is a shame to see such an animal in captivity. Having been to Thai zoo's to see what they are like I think the Temple set up is not too bad - the Zoo in Chiang Mai is not the best and the one in Phuket should be closed down!
Is the place as well set up as it could be? No, but then I can remember Zoos in Europe were pretty poor not so long ago. In fact a poor elephant in my home town (Perth, W Australia) not so long ago went mad after years of standing, swaying, day after day on a tiny concrete island.
Would I go again to the Tiger Temple? No, it doesn't rate a second visit, but I would possibly say that it was a worthwile experience and one that I have strong memories of.
Reply to this Is there any information in the Tiger Temple about what the fees tourists pay are spent on? ie are they just a way to make money, or is a portion of them used to improve the conditions the tigers live in and give the carers more training etc?
Reply to this I seem to remember that if you go on your own you can get in for about 100Bht but I have heard some say they pay three times this. There are a lot of animals there not just Tigers and I would imagine the cost woud be huge to feed them all. In addition there are staff to be paid. There is a new and, for Thailand very clean and modern toilet block - a feature that I was rather keen on having spent the previous night in a "who can eat the hotest Thai food competition". it was kept pristinely clean by a bevy of cleaning ladies.
There are lots of reports about people making heaps of money out of the operation - but it is easy to spread rumours. To date I don't beleve there is any evidence. Certainly the tour operators out of BKK that charge to cram peope into the mini buses are making a quid and who knows about the people that run the Temple? But if you are going to exclude everything, in SE Asia, that might be a bit of a problem or that people are making a bit of cash in ways we would find slightly shady, then I would suggest you go somewhere else.
Reply to this ...if you are going to exclude everything, in SE Asia, that might be a bit of a problem or that people are making a bit of cash in ways we would find slightly shady, then I would suggest you go somewhere else.
Being dishonest is one thing, but when cruelty to people or animals is involved it becomes more than a just 'avoid SE Asia if you dont like it issue......'
Reply to this http://www.careforthewild.com/projects.asp?detail=true&I_ID=580&mypage=Reports
This is one report that comes up regarding the Tiger Temple.
I have to agree w/ Mouseman, we too checked it out and once was enough.
Reply to this This opens up a whole world of debate. I have spent many years fighting with governments and ignorance over wildlife issues. At one point I had to drift away from the argument as I realised I was becoming so stressed by humanities blindness. Years later I have a rather gentler vision of the human race.
I wonder if our high emotional attachment to wild animals might be a reaction to the fact that we might all secretly realise that we are living in some form of Tiger Temple ourselves.
I wonder if the terrible trade in wild animals might be stemmed by breeding animals for the trade. I wonder if we had thousands of tigers bred on farms would it not protect the few remaining wild ones. This type of programme has made a huge difference with the illegal bird trade in rare birds in Australia.
So in answer to the post by Mell. It depends what you mean by cruelty. Some might say that any form of captivity is cruel. On the Temple Tigers - I really only saw what I thought looked like pretty healthy animals. The two handlers I spoke with seemed the type that would blow the whistle pretty quickly to me - idealistic young Australasian. But, as I am sure someone will point out, I am not a vet and I don't have a degree in animal psychology.
The Tiger Temple is not my type of place. But many have found great pleasure and even solace from being with these animals, if even for a short while. Could it be done better? Of course. But, and please don't think I'm being glib here, Asia is Asia and not the "leafy green suburbs". If pressure and opinion could be brought to bear on the authorities to improve things - then well and good. Actually, with the temple's value as a tourist money earner there is a good chance that such efforts might just bear fruit.
Reply to this This opens up a whole world of debate. I have spent many years fighting with governments and ignorance over wildlife issues.
Yeah, trying to do something about some of the terrible things happening in the world takes an unreal amount of patience. Not just with governments etc, but with the constant stream of critics who dont think activists are doing the right thing, not doing enough, should be paying attention to another cause instead...... Such a pity that so many of the worlds good people who want to make the world a better place become jaded and burnt out by critisism.
I wonder if our high emotional attachment to wild animals might be a reaction to the fact that we might all secretly realise that we are living in some form of Tiger Temple ourselves.
As living creatures ourselves, of course we would have empathy for the suffering of others. There is nobody in this world who has never experienced some degee of suffering. Some more than others.
Asia is Asia and not the "leafy green suburbs".
Like you pointed out previously, the zoos in Europe used to be much worse than they are now. We only have to look at what someplace like Europe was 200 years ago as regards human rights and animal rights standards to see just how much things can change for the better. There will never be perfection, but vast improvement is a definate maybe in my opinion.
Actually, with the temple's value as a tourist money earner there is a good chance that such efforts might just bear fruit.
Just last week, I read some success stories from a political activist. I have been wondering for a while if the power of information and world pressure really makes a difference. This womans stories shows they do.
Reply to this Does anybody know if the volunteers or the permanent staff of the temple are zoologists, animal psychologists or other professionals of animal care?
Reply to this I just added a blog of my experience. Hope it helps!
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