Do not go..............

The monkey in the show has parkinson's disease (looked worried the whole time) and has had a stroke, shocking. His face had fallen on the one side.The orangutan did nothing the whole time. The fact they make them walk on two legs looks awkward.

I could not bare to see the croc, elephant or snake shows after witnessing that. I panned the little arena and saw I wasn't the only one concerned.

Concrete cages/ so sad. 500 baht each. 16.50 AUD what a waste of money! Very inhumane.

The aquarium in the zoo had very dirty tanks - murky and the fish were too big to swim around freely in the tanks.

The crocs were numbering over 100+ lying all on top of each other.

The worst part of the animal cruelty is the beautiful tiger chained to a round concrete stage so that you can get your picture taken with it. They banged on the concrete to get him to flip over to look at us - absolutely horrific!!!!!!!!!!

Do not go there. I would suggest a sanctuary or something, read the previous posts and regarding the elephant treks. There were alot of the elephants out of business when they stopped logging so at least they are getting fed, etc.

You will not be impressed by the zoo, shame on the Thailand Government / businesses who support this archaic 1950's style animal display. We were not aware - I guess I didn't read enough posts before I left Australia, shame on me as well.

Left me disturbed and upset, it took us less than an hour to hurry through there, terrible.

Sharon

Sounds like nothing has changed then at the zoo.

Kevin have a read of this thread as well on Phuket Zoo, theres also a link to Athenas photos from the zoo.

tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293920-i5037-k121…

Cathy

OMG I heard the zoo was bad, but after reading that account I am truely horrified, that's way worse that what I was able to imagine happenned there!

I am taking a stand this time around on our holiday in 6wks time. Last time I did take a "second look"at the animal parading and quickly left the terrible coconut monkey show - that upset me for the next few days, but THIS time I am refusing to partake in any form of animal explotation in favour of the eco friendly a possible options.

Decided not to go to Fantasia,don't want to support a ventue that has elephants in costumes dancing, and didn't like the accountof an animal being bashed out the back and seen by a tourist and I have kids lol,

Not partaking in animals parading around the streets after dark, for phtoes and banana money.

Anything else that involves an animal will be from an educational point of interest for my 2 young kids.

Imagine if alot of us did this, didn't support shoding mistreatment of animals...thru the tourist dollars.

Maybe a dream, but we need to start somewhere

Kevin, the Phuket Zoo is nothing like the Singapore Zoo. Many people who visit there get distressed by seeing the animals.

I hope that in June Cathy and I can go to the zoo together and see if there's something we can do to either change it or get it shut down. The chances of getting it shut down are remote, so the option then is to see how we can ensure the animals get correct food and treatment. The owner is very business oriented and doesn't care for the animals whatsoever. The only reason he's still in business from what I've been able to glean about it, is that he has contacts that run the Korean coach trips. They support him, as do taxi drivers who receive 100 baht per group they bring.

I have written many letters in the past, including to the TAT (Tourism Authority Thailand) and SEAZA (South East Zoos Association) without worthwhile response. I have a friend in Phuket who may be able to help us make more progress within Phuket. We'll see what happens.

I agree with the others and do not recommend it.

i will be in Phuket in November and have only started reading this forum and its making me really upset to read about the animal cruelty. Athena maybe if you give us all the names and addresses you have written to and we all do the same it will make this person use his intellect to see that he will be losing money by continueing to illtreat these beautiful animals. Most responsible zoos now try to imitate the lifestyle of the animal as closely as possible and they also have sponsoring schemes that large companies take up because its also a good image for them.I absolutely love all animals and I have 3 rescue dogs and 4 cats and loads of strays I feed(my poor partner works hard all year round to feed and look after them, with what we pay in kennel fees per year we could have a really good extra holiday!!!) I have been looking forward to being up close to the elephants especially but will have to decide where is the best place to visit. Anyone who has been to the zoo dont be ashamed, at least now you can advise others of the conditions that are there.

Hi Hobbi, this is the only response I received from SEAZA;

Jansen Manansang [president_seaza@tamansafari.com]

Dear Tina,

Thankyou for your email sent to me at Taman Safari Indonesia on November 9. I apologise for the delay in responding, but the fasting month of Ramadan and the Idul Fitri celebrations which follow ensured that we were exteremely busy.

Your report on conditions at Phuket Zoo certainly suggest that the zoo is sub-standard in some areas and I have asked my colleagues affliated with SEAZA (the South East Asian Zoos Association) to check the matter out locally on my behalf. As an independent zoo, neither SEAZA nor the zoo associations in Thailand have any direct jurisdiction over Phuket Zoo. However, once I receive a response from SEAZA's Thai representatives, we may be able to appeal to the zoo on humane and other grounds.

I will be back in touch when I have more information.

Regards,

Jansen Manansang

President

South East Asian Zoos Association

I also wrote to the Born Free Organisation, who said they were sending people to inspect the zoo, but I don't think that happened. I will send them new photographs of the zoo when I go back, hopefully with Cathy. If we go together, we can work as a team and report back to the forums we're members of and see if we can make a difference to how many people are aware of what goes on there.

I wrote to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, but no response. I also contacted Dr John Wedderburn who is in Hong Kong. He is the guy who told me to contact SEAZA. I was trying to find the email address for TAT, but found something potentially better, a suggestion/complaints form.

touristassistancecenter.go.th/web/eng/compla…

It is interesting to note that there is a new President of the TAT, a woman, which may well make a difference. Women being much more sympathetic than men, for the most part.

Kevin

I totally agree with the above. DO NOT GO TO PHUKET ZOO. My family visited the zoo 2 years ago and were very distressed by the life the animals live. When we were in Phuket recently my children (14 & 11) refused to go, we were travelling with my sister and children (14 &2) they visited the zoo and were very disappointed.

Save your family the distress and visit Singapore Zoo instead a much nicer experience, or come to Australia and visit one of our amazing zoo's instead.

I'd be very wary of heading to Phuket Zoo and "trying to get it closed down". By all means contact all organisations you can, but at the end of the day, fact is the owner is a very big cheese and the zoo will remain.

Now, as a resident with kids I have been to the zoo several times. Very cheap for us as we don't pay the exorbitant tourist price. I don't really like it, but as a savvy traveler, have seen worse. Some of the animals look OK, some are pitiful. My kids are young and happy to see a tiger, a toucan, crocodiles and a man putting his head in the croc's mouth. As we are not rich and can't jet off to African game reserves or whatever, this is my kids chance to see an animal close up. As they get older, if we are still living here (and if the zoo is still open), I will explain to them about animal treatment, but for now I am sure we will go again.

I have bookmarked this thread and will add a link to it from my blog pages about the zoo.

Oh, and I reckon Tuk Tuk drivers, minibus drivers etc get WAY more than 100 Baht "per group". The price for entry is 500 Baht per adult tourist. My wife reckons the drivers are on huge commissions.

I know that when we got our friend Mai to take us there, he told us he got 100 baht for taking us.

Like I said, the chances of getting the zoo closed are remote. At the end of the day, getting it closed may only get the animals sent to other poor zoos, so it may be best to appeal to authorities that can put pressure on the owner. Other than that, we could look at some kind of sponsorship program, but that would be quite complicated.

It would be good if the zoo keepers were trained in many things, which they're obviously not trained in as yet, but also in not letting the tourists (coach tourists) hit the cages and do other things that frighten the animals.

After having seen the treatment of the otters at the Butterfly Farm, I can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes at the zoo.