Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Friday, May 25, 2007
I couldn't decide if I wanted to include this place in my travel pod. I have chosen to do so only to urge all visitors to Thailand to avoid it at all costs. As the popularity of this place has skyrocketed, its intentions have plummeted into the depths of human avarice. The price for entry has increased to no less than 20x the original requested donation of 30 baht. This money has certainly not improved the living conditions of the tigers, but it has provided plenty of drugs to keep them sedated while tourists pay an extra 1000 baht (an insane amount of money in rural Thailand) to take photos with an almost unconscious tiger's head in their laps. These enormous tigers are regularly doused with water and manhandled into awkward positions simply to keep them awake. Upon visiting, my initial awe of seeing these incredible creatures up close was quickly extinguished by the painful recognition of what they have been reduced to. Thailand is notorious for corruption, but a Wat and wildlife sanctuary was not where I expected to find it. I was obviously naive, but I encourage others not to be. Please don't give your money to this place. The tattooed monks with cell phones are little more than street thugs who have surrounded themselves with opulence, all of it financed by foreign currency from hopeful but poorly informed tourists.
Comments
Tiger Sanctuary
Sorry Dane, I have to disagree with a lot of your comments. It's true that the cost has risen for entry and photographs. perhaps like any other religious institute in the world they abuse their 'God Given Right' to use the funds as they see fit. This inevitably leads to a belief that corruption exists as there are no controls in place.
However, your assertion that the tigers are drugged is just plain inaccurate. Join in for the morning excercise period ( a whopping 4,000 baht for one hour to watch ) and where your adult pampers. The jumping, wrestling, swatting, roaring and sometimes fake charges towards the tourists leave no doubt that these cats are in full control of their senses.
I'm no tiger expert but I'll venture to say that a well fed cat, born and raised in captivity probably has diminished tendancies towards attacking and killing. Sleeping all day is probably more like it!
Re: Tiger Sanctuary
Thank you for you response, and I will take your word that the morning show is much livelier than the afternoon petting session. Admittedly, if I were publishing this, I would seek additional proof before my drugging assertion. However, I did hear this accusation from a local guide who has been working in the area for a decade and will no longer take tourists to the site because he personally knows the individual who provides the sedatives. A tour operator in Thailand turning down money because of ethical outrage is a pretty good indicator of a problem. And no 12-foot tiger, no matter where it was raised, how docile it is, or if it was hand-fed from birth, could be dragged around roughly by the tail by a human while barely opening an eye if chemical assistance were not involved. The tigers were unconcious in people's laps. The morning show may be different, but I stand by my statement that the cats are heavily sedated. As for the corruption issue, the longer I live in Thailand, the less doubt I have to that claim as well. I'm glad you had a good experience, but I genuinely believe the tigers are drugged and are improperly exploited for monetary gain. I still say stay away.
I'm off to Thailand in a few weeks and was looking to go there - I'll be keeping well away - Thanks for the heads up!
Glad to hear it Rob. There used to be a comment from someone else with a number of links confirming the mistreatment of tigers, but it's gone for some reason. Google brings up plenty, but here's one post on National Geographic about corruption at the temple. If you have any questions about travel in Thailand, just let me know.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080620-tiger-temple_2.html