Tiger Kingdom

Tiger Kingdom is open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day. They have a variety of enclosures for different sized tigers liked small cubs of 2-3 months, medium-sized tigers of 9-12 months and big cats of 13-30 months. There is a full-time trainer in each enclosure that stays with you during your interactions with the tiger and gives you tips on how to handle them. Just in case, an accident insurance is included in the price.

There are multiple packages available based on which enclosures you would like to visit: smallest cubs, small cubs, small white cubs, medium-sized tigers, white tigers, big tigers, and giant tigers. As the smallest cubs are most in demand, a trip to that enclosure is priced at THB 1200 while visiting any of the other enclosures is priced at THB 800. A trip to any two enclosures is priced at THB 1500, three enclosures at THB 2,500 and visiting all rooms would cost you THB 5,000. You’ll get to spend at least 15 minutes in each enclosure, but this is usually extended to 20-25 minutes if there is a photographer hired.

The tigers at the Tiger Kingdom are put on a rotational schedule for food, play, and sleep to ensure that they all receive adequate attention and are not tired during the day. The instructors explain at the beginning of the tour that no tiger spends more than 4 hours inside the tourist enclosure. Instead, when their time is over, they are moved to the much larger enclosure with other tigers to mingle and rest. The tigers have been fondly given unique names in Thai and English by their trainers such as Lucky Day, Beautiful Morning, and even Sticky Rice!

Inside the tourist enclosures, you’ll get to play with the cubs, pet them, and even lie down on them for a photograph. Before entering, you’ll need to wash your hands and switch to flip-flops but this is not required for the older animals. As they have been raised by the Tiger Kingdom, they have been well-trained. The cubs are especially playful and they love to pounce on you (or each other) before tiring themselves out and going to sleep. If you arrive at their meal times, you might even be allowed to bottle feed them!

The older tigers may seem intimidating, but they are used to interacting with humans. As long as you follow the safety tips of the instructors, you have no reason to worry! Both the trainers and the photographers put the animals at ease so that you can get a great photo and interaction without bothering the animal. A general tip is to avoid getting too close to the tiger’s head or front paws, and to pet them firmly as they interpret light touches as tickles or flies.

The medium sized tigers and large tigers are too big to play with directly, but you’ll get to use a long pole with a tassel at the end to tease them as one teases house cats. You’ll see that the tigers love to jump around and play with you. On hot days, they even leap into their pool to laze around and cool off. The entire experience is quite memorable and you’re bound to feel a sense of wonder at these majestic cats.

As this is such a unique experience, it’s understandable that you’ll want to document the moment you get to play with a tiger cub. To meet this demand, the Tiger Kingdom offers photography services along with their tour packages. Featuring friendly photographers who are well-versed with the tigers and use professional equipment to get that perfect shot, these services are priced at THB 300 per cage or THB 6,000 for photographs in all four cages. The photos are of great quality and they are provided to you in a CD at the end of the tour. You’ll have plenty of options to choose from at the end as the photographers take approximately 40-70 photos of you during your tour.

Of course, you are also allowed to bring your camera and take photographs if you please. Do note that use of flash is strictly permitted.

Aside from the tour packages, Tiger Kingdom’s learning centre is open to those who would like to understand what goes behind caring for these creatures. The ‘Keeper for a Day’ program takes place in their 160,000 square metre plot in Mae Taeng. You’ll get to do what the employees of Tiger Kingdom do every day such as cleaning cages, documenting details of the enclosures, preparing food, and bathing the tigers. It can get a gruelling day but well-worth the effort if you’re interested in conservation or just tigers in general. The ‘Keeper for a Day’ program ends at the Tiger Kingdom where you’ll get to visit all the enclosures.

It is priced at THB 5,000 and must be booked online for a maximum group size of eight people. The minimum age for this program is eight years old. Children under the age of sixteen must be accompanied by an adult. Bookings are to be made at least 2 days in advance. The total price includes a hotel transfer, lunch, snacks, photography service, exclusive merchandise, a ‘Tiger keeper’ passport, amongst other goodies.

To combat the problem of eating options around Tiger Kingdom due to its location outside the city, there is a restaurant available inside the park to grab a meal. Called Bengal Restaurant (after the Bengal tiger), it is a resto-café that offers a buffet lunch, a la carte menu for dinner, and serves a variety of cuisines like Thai, fast food, and Western. It also offers a great view overlooking the park where you can watch other excited tourists play with the cubs.

Bengal Restaurant is open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM while the buffet lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM. If you’re a fan of the food here, there’s an extension of this restaurant in Chiang Mai city on Moon Muang Road.

As the name suggests, Tiger Kingdom is in love with these large cats and they want you to be too! Apart from the photographs to take home, their souvenir shop at the end of the tour offers plenty of tiger-themed merchandise like key chains, t-shirts, caps and more to commemorate your experience or use as gifts for friends and family. Their plush toy collection of tigers is particularly popular amongst children. The souvenir shop is open from 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM for a lunch break, after which it opens at 2:00 PM till the park closes by 6:00 PM.

Tiger Kingdom is located at 51/1 Moo 7 Rim-Tai, Mae-Rim Chiang Mai. It is around 10 kilometres (15 minutes) north of Chiang Mai city limits. To reach by road, you’ll need to drive past Mae Rim to where Highway 107 meets County Road 1096. This route is well-known about drivers in Chiang Mai and you won’t have trouble asking for directions/ finding a ride. It’s recommended to hire a taxi or a songthaew as Tiger Kingdom is too far outside the city for a tuk tuk.

Because of its location outside the city, it’s best to rent a taxi for the whole day to Tiger Kingdom instead of only taking a taxi one way as you will find it difficult to get an empty taxi going back. Instead, when you rent a taxi for the day, the driver will wait for you and drive you back to your hotel. The whole fee, including the wait of approximately 2-3 hours, will be around THB 500 to THB 700. There are some transfer services available by Tiger Kingdom for those who buy tickets online. This is an additional charge (apart from the ticket price) of THB 200 for a return journey.