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There are a number of zoos in and around Bangkok that are ideal
destinations for people on holiday in Thailand with their children. One
of the better zoos is Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi Province. It is
about half way between Bangkok and Pattaya. The journey took us about
90 minutes and so it makes it an ideal day trip from either Bangkok or
Pattaya. However, it is not easy to reach there by public transport so
you might have to rent a car or hire a taxi for the day. But it is
certainly worth the effort. I went there yesterday with Nong Grace and
she had a really great time. She certainly wants to go back again.
In some ways Khao Kheow (sometimes spelled Khao Khiew) is similar to
Safari World in Bangkok. It has all the regular animals that you would
want to see such as giraffe, elephant, tiger, lion, chimpanzee, camel
etc. It also allows you to get up close to these animals. There were
many opportunities where you can feed the animals. Food was available
for the animals at a very reasonable 20 baht a bunch. Like Safari World
you can also drive through the park. However, at Khao Kheow you can get
out of the car at most places and get quite close to the animals. You
wouldn't want to walk around the whole park as the animal exhibits
alone cover an area of 400 acres.
If you don't have a car you can always take a guided tram ride or rent
a bicycle or even hire a golf cart for 300 baht for two hours. When we
go again we might just do that. There are several places within the
park where you can rent golf carts. We spent most of our time feeding
the giraffes so next time we could park the car there first. Then when
ready to explore more, we could go and rent a golf cart. The advantage
of a golf cart is that you will see a lot more. Also, we were sometimes
a bit lazy to keep getting out of the car to see all of the animals.
Having said that, we did spend an incredible six hours at this zoo!
In the afternoon we went to see a Bird Show which was quite good but
the parrot named "James Bond" didn't always want to perform on cue.
But, it was an enjoyable show for the youngsters. At the end of the
show, Nong Grace wanted her picture taken with a parrot which only cost
20 baht. Nearby there was an adventure playground and a Children's Zoo.
Nong Grace spent several hours here playing and feeding the animals
such as rabbits and goats. In fact I think we probably fed most of the
animals at the zoo several times over. Luckily this wasn't as expensive
as at Safari World. Nong Grace wanted her picture taken with some of
the animals such as tiger like she did at Sriracha Tiger Zoo. But, we
didn't see any opportunities for that which was a shame.
When we went to Safari World, the price of the tickets for
foreigners was a really expensive 700 baht. This was mainly due to the
shows. Nong Grace said she wants to go there again but I have told her
it is too expensive. In contrast, Khao Kheow Open Zoo is far cheaper
though obviously more challenging to get there. They have a two price
system but the difference is very minimal. Thai adults are 70 baht and
foreign adults 100 baht. Thai children 15 baht and foreign children 50
baht. Nong Grace is only four and they let her in for free. I then had
to pay another 50 baht for taking my car into the zoo which was also
very reasonable. As there wasn't much difference between foreign and
Thai price I didn't bother to ask for local price. But they gave it to
me anyway. It is nice when they do that without asking.
If you are a parent with children, you will probably find Khao Kheow
Open Zoo much better if you have your own transport. This meant that
Nong Grace didn't have to walk around so much and we had a mobile base
where we were able to keep drinks and snacks. The reason we ended up
staying there six hours was probably because we drove around the zoo
twice! Which is something you cannot do at Safari World. On the first
round we skipped a few places which were too near to each other. Then
saw these animals on the second round. We also went back to see some of
her favourites like the giraffes and elephants. She also liked throwing
cucumbers into the open mouth of the hippos. They apparently have a
night safari here which might be worth investigating. I also noticed
that they have a camping ground though I am not sure if that is mainly
for schools.
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