Visit Tiger Kingdom!
Take pictures with tigers and (perhaps) lions!
Have a photo shoot with baby lions.
Play with baby tigers!
Or lay on baby tigers and get tiger kisses!
Or have them play with you!
Meet the big tigers…
…that give friendly kisses!
And be completely nervous but smile when laying on a big tiger!
Cheese for pictures with big tigers. These cats are amazing!
Once out of Bangkok, we arrived to Chiang Mai and visited Tiger Kingdom! We were able to choose which “size” of animal we would like to pet and have our photos taken with! They charged a fee for each size animal (baby, medium and adult) we wanted to interact with. At the time they also had two baby lions there and we chose to see them, the baby tigers, and the adult tigers. The highlight was the baby tigers because they were so interactive. The baby lions were a bit grouchy, so we did not spend too much time with them, but the adult tigers seemed to care less that people were around.
Visit the Maesa Elephant Camp!
Watch the elephants take baths before the show!
These elephants are known for their fantastic painting skills!
The elephants also paint pictures!
Wanpen (elephant) painted these amazing poppy vines for the Jessetters!
Get to know the elephants here! They are fabulous!
Once done with Tiger Kingdom, we headed to the Maesa Elephant Camp where the elephants put on a show for guests. They have a little parade, play soccer, and paint pictures for those who would like to buy them. We wanted the poppy vines painting, painted by Wanpen the Elephant, however someone purchased it before we could. Thankfully our tour guide spoke to the caretaker of Wanpen and they had him come back out to paint another painting just for us. It was truly an incredible experience to witness and the painting is now framed in our family room!
We both loved our visit to these amazing places and would recommend anyone to visit them.
Tons of t-shirts!
Hand carved and painted soap!
Loved this one!
On a bonus note, the night markets of Chiang Mai are not to be missed! They have some amazing food and souvenir options… and even though I only have a few photos, there were tons of booths to shop around.
Looks great. Did you find it humane?
We actually did. Our impression was the animals were very well taken care of at both attractions. Neither location seemed to drug their animals or deprived them of basic needs.
I really enjoy reading your blog, but I have lived in Thailand for a year and know that the training practices behind getting an elephant to paint, play soccer, ect are quite cruel. If you visit again, maybe look into visiting Elephant Nature Park? They run a rehabilitation center for elephants for have been abused in such circuses and it is a great cause. Just thought you might not know. 🙂
Thanks for the tip!