Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Thailand is Permanently Closed

The Controversial Tiger Temple Was Shut Down in 2016

The Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand was also known as Wat Pha Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery.

This monastery was a popular tourist attraction, located about 40km from Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.

Authorities closed the Temple in May of 2016.

As an avid lover of animals a visit to the Tiger Temple was on the top of our daughters wish list, of things to do during our last family vacation to Thailand.

After reading many mixed reviews, from other travelers on TripAdvisor, about the Temple we were rather skeptical about going, as some of the reviews said that the tigers are mistreated and possibly drugged.

Our initial plans were to take a day trip from Bangkok to visit both the Tiger Temple and Hellfire Pass.

After researching the area and still feeling unsure about going to the Tiger Temple, we decided that we would stay a few days in Kanchanaburi to explore the other sights and attractions and ask the locals what their thoughts are of the Temple before going.

Tigers were chained to the ground in the hot sun.

After spending a couple of days in Kanchanaburi and talking to the locals about the Tiger Temple, we were informed that it was not what we thought it to be! “A sanctuary for tigers and tigers cubs rescued from poachers”.

Our daughter had her heart set on seeing the tigers, so we decided it would be a good opportunity to go and see for ourselves.

The entrance fee to the Tiger Temple at the time, was 600 baht per person. This gave you access to see the tigers in the canyon, and have photos taken with each of the tigers one by one.

For an extra 1000 baht, you could have a special photo taken with the tigers head resting in your lap, and another fee if you wanted to feed the tiger cubs.

At first the thought of sitting up close and personal with a tiger was somewhat of a daunting thought.

However as soon as we saw the tigers, lying chained to the ground, in the hot sun, most looking somewhat dazed, and others fast asleep, our fear soon turned to sorrow for the tigers.

The Temple claimed, that the tigers were rescued from poachers, and were able to live freely.

From what we observed the Temple seems to be set up to please tourists and was more like a petting zoo..

We were unsure if the tigers were sedated, or if they are just docile from being raised and handled by humans, and not living in their natural environment.

At the same time we saw docile, sleepy tigers in the canyon, other tigers were wide awake in an area were people can pay extra money to play with them in the water.

This didn't make sense, from what we were told the tigers sleep in the afternoon, after a morning of play and a belly full of food.

My concern was why did some of the tigers seem very docile and sleepy when others seem quiet playful.

Did they not feed the ones that are playful, or did they sedate the ones that were to go in the canyon?

There were a lot of foreign volunteers that support this project.

For anyone thinking about visiting the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Thailand, I highly recommend that you do lots of research of your own before making your own informed decision about going.

Would we contemplate revisiting the Tigers at this so called sanctuary ?

The answer to that is simple - No.

But this is only our personal experience and opinion, others may have had a totally different experience.

What to Wear

We were warned not to wear pink, red or orange clothing.

Women were required to wear a sleeved shirt that covered your shoulders and long pants.

I wore a green T shirt with sleeves that covered my shoulders and the top of my arms, which I thought would be appropriate.

After we had purchased our tickets at the front gate to the Temple, the staff kindly informed me that my sleeves on my shirt were to short, and I would have to purchase a T shirt from them before I could enter the Temple grounds.

I was not the only person in this predicament.

This seems to be somewhat of a money spinner for the Tiger Temple, rather than a safety issue.