Last Updated on July 19, 2019 by PowersToTravel
When planning our trip to Thailand I had read about visiting the Tiger Kingdom, and knew that there was two such locations in Thailand. I’d also read about allegations of drugging and mis-treatment. I knew that the tigers were not “wild” but had been bred in captivity. I felt unsure about whether this was an activity I wanted to participate in.
I arranged our itinerary then to purposely avoid the Tiger Kingdom. However our itinerary also purposely had one and a half days of “down time” before we would head off to Laos.
This would be our first “down time” experience in Southeast Asia. I had figured with a 65 day trip we would need some time to relax and unwind, so had built in a day every week or so in which I planned no activities. Usually that would be at the beginning or end of a country or city, so that we would not be spending money on a guide, just time to relax by the pool at the hotel.
In Chiang Mai Thailand, then, we found ourselves with time to burn. No, we weren’t burned out, we were ready to see more, but I hadn’t planned anything. Greg also had seen advertisements for the Tiger Kingdom and really wanted to go there. With no excuses to lean on, I agreed that it would definitely be an experience.
We were able to privately engage our guide for the half-day trip to the Tiger Kingdom, and went first thing in the morning. In fact I believe we were the first customers of the morning as well.
Greg saw the possibility of touching the giant tiger and was hooked. I decided, well, if he’s going to do it, why not I? So I decided to sit with the five month old white tiger.
Greg’s experience was obviously more intimidating than mine. I wasn’t truly frightened when he went into the tiger’s habitat because there were four keepers to corral the tiger, and the tiger seemed quiet. Greg was told to “stand here,” “sit there,” and was even taught to feed chicken to the tiger.
We both learned that we should touch the tiger on his back or caress his tail, but never touch his head. That was strange to me because domestic cats like to see what’s coming.
Part way through Greg’s visit, which was about ten minutes long, both he and I, separately, became aware that there was actually a second giant tiger in the huge cage area. While Greg was touching and focusing on one tiger, and all the keepers were focusing on that tiger – one gesturing, one taking pictures, and others looking involved – there was another tiger just wandering around, not even being supervised!
I enjoyed touching my tiger. He was larger than I expected, but so small when compared with Greg’s. Greg’s seemed a little more animated – mine just wanted to sleep and it wasn’t even nap-time.
After the experience we both felt happy that we had invested in it. Maybe there are issues with the treatment of the tigers, we don’t know and haven’t seen any updates. Certainly this center was not the one that was in the news in 2017.
The experience did give us a chance to actually touch and feel a closeness to these huge animals. The Tiger Kingdom highlights the constant struggle between zoos and freedom, domestication and freedom: awareness and education for the human and freedom for the animal.
