Thailand is probably one of the places you can encounter tigers without just being at the zoo. You actually get to be in the cage with these adorable animals and they are scary sometimes. When my boyfriend went to the Tiger Kingdom we took one of our friends we met and told her shes coming with us that lives in Thailand. We purchased the Little Tigers, Medium Sized Tigers, and Big Tigers package. When I say you must visit this place, you should! You will enjoy your time with the animals and its pretty awesome you can lay and play with them. You can't get this anywhere in the USA.
Getting There
They do have the Tiger Kingdom in Chiang Mai and in Phuket. We went to the one in Chiang Mai. We met our driver the day and said we will be friends and she was up for going with us and we paid for her to go to the Tiger Kingdom. So I would suggest getting a Grab or a Tuk Tuk and you can go. If your in the main part of Chiang Mai its about 15-30 mins depending on traffic. Just type the Tiger Kingdom into the Grap App or if you dare to drive in Thailand then put it in your GPS.
Pricing
There are many different sizes of tigers at the Tiger Kingdom and they have different packages when you get to the place too, but you can check online or actually go to the Kingdom and see if you want to buy it, but if you are already there you should just commit and do it! You will love it!
Heres the prices I saw:
Giant Tiger: 1,300 baht
Big Tiger: 700 baht
Medium Tiger: 600 baht
Small Tiger: 500 baht
Smallest Tiger: 1,000 baht
Newborn: 1,200 baht
During the visit, if you are short they measure you to make sure you are tall enough to be in the cages with the bigger tigers. I'm 5"9, so I was fine, but our friend was probably 5"1 and couldn't go into one of the cages with us, but if you are tall then you can go into all of the cages. It's awesome that you can take your own photos while you are in there. So bring your cell phone, they don't allow selfie sticks and the tiger caretakers can take your photo if you are alone there, but if you are with friends have everyone take photos separately and then the caretakers can take a huge group photo.
Now its Time to play with the Tigers!
Depending on how many tickets you bought, we bought 3, you are placed in a waiting area. Then when your group is called you get introduced by the tiger caretakers and they tell you what you must do and not to do. Leave your bags where they tell you and just bring your phone!
I was a bit nervous when I entered the 2 big tiger rooms, they are kind of scary, the Tigers would stare right at you and its like uh oh, I'm meat to them. You get used to it though, plus theres usually 3-6 caretakers next to you to protect you in case something happens. Staff will tell you if the Tigers are ready to get photos done, and if they aren't usually there's like 3-5 lions in the cage, so one of them will surely be ready for photos!
After about 15-20 minutes, you gotta go to the next cage if you purchased more, if you purchased one then you can go check out the park. They have an awesome show with one of the tigers which they put meat everywhere and he does an obstacle course, which is really impressive. You can also see the newborn tigers through a window or if you purchased tickets for it, we didn't get it, but next time I go back to Thailand I will definitely get tickets just for the baby ones!
Would I go back to the Tiger Kingdom?
Many people will say to shy away from visiting the Tiger Kingdom due to their thoughts on animal cruelty. From what I could see, none of the tigers were drugged some were sleepy but it was because of its 95 degrees and 87% humidity. If I had a furry coat on and it was that hot I would want to sleep all day if I wanted. They were all walking around and playing with the other tigers. They were fed a lot I couldn't feel any bones when I laid on them. People think they are drugged because they were sleepy, but they weren't. Plus you could tell if animals are drugged they usually will walk like they are drunk or something.
The Tigers are really taken care of and they were happy. The size of their cages was very spacious and they have swimming pools too. So if you have never been there and are concerned, maybe you should come and visit this place and see it for your self, instead of just saying oh I'm so concerned because I've heard blah blah blah. I hate when people judge and don't actually visit a place. It's like would you visit tigers in the wild and lay on them? NO, you will be eaten alive in 10 seconds of even being close to a lion or tiger.
