It has been a while since I have talked about tourism related topics on this blog but after seeing the news from the Tiger Temple in Thailand I couldn’t ignore it. For those who aren’t familiar with the recent news or the Tiger Temple in general I will quickly recap.
The Tiger Temple is a place in Thailand run by Buddhist monks with, supposedly, conservation at its heart. They allow the opportunity for tourists to see tigers at close proximity and even the chance to have a photo with an adult tiger or feed tiger clubs, of course for an extra charge.
There has always been speculation about the true intentions of the Tiger Temple and even about the welfare of the animals. It has been believed that the animals are sedated, as they were so relaxed around people and some even saying that their teeth and claws had been pulled when they were clubs.
Now in recent news their has been a raid on the facility and shockingly 40 frozen tiger clubs had been found in a freezer. What the tiger clubs were doing there is still unclear but the most likely reason is the temple has been breeding tigers and selling them to China for medicinal purposes.
When doing a Google search for the location of the Tiger Temple I was happy to see the message ‘permanently closed’ on my screen.
To me this shows that conservation is far from their priority and the temple has always put making money first. I have travelled in Asia and also Thailand, I have visited Kanchanaburi (the province where the Tiger Temple is located) and knew about the Tiger Temple, but I never visited. Asia is full of these attractions created for the tourist dollar and I had decided to stay away from them. People are fooled to believe that their money or entrance fee is going to conservation or helping the animals in some way but, more often than not, that is far from the truth.
My closing message would be that we think carefully about how the money we give is being spent, especially when visiting less developed countries like in Asia. Of course many of us would jump at the chance to see a tiger close up, I know I would, but we have to ask ourselves at what cost. Do your research and if you are happy that the animals needs are put first, like they are in many zoos, then go ahead.
Further Reading:
Tiger temple scandal exposes the shadowy billion-dollar Asian trade – The Guardian
My experience on the Death Railway and Kanchanaburi, Thailand
Our Shadows Will Remain 
That is awful but doesn’t surprise me. Thailand is a beautiful country and tourist resorts are luxurious but scratch beneath the surface and there is real poverty with all that it brings.
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I totally agree. When it comes to money they will allow and do almost anything. This has become apparent in many other areas too, if you are interested please take a look at my other posts about the darker sides of tourism.
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I read about this too. It’s really sad.
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It is, and the honest truth is this is probably only the tip of the iceberg.
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I am sooooo happy the tiger temple is closed. I must say I feel sickened when I have seen people parading with these tigers on blogs. But not everyone is aware of the situation and that’s why posts like yours are very important. ❤
Thailand has many attractions where animals are exploited. Of course they are not the only country who does that. I wrote a piece on my thoughts on animals as tourist attractions after I had to visit such places in BKK. It was on a worktrip and I couldn't say no as I was not to offend our hosts. Thank goodness I was able to avoid the elephant rides though.
https://mrssuvi.com/2015/12/16/your-travel-selfie-may-be-an-animals-nightmare/
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It is very hard to tell how the animals are treated and of course we always hear the worst stories. For some travellers it isn’t important to know theses details but for me it is. Thanks for sharing your blog!
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