Thread: Tiger Temple

Whats a cool place! has anyone ever visited this temple? :: ÇÑ´»èÒËÅǧµÒºÑÇ [at]Ò³ÊÑÁ»Ñ¹â¹ ¨.¡Ò[at]¨¹ºØÃÕ - Tiger Temple, Thailand ::

It might sound 'cool' when you read about it at home but it is an accident waiting to happen.

according to their own figures, they take about 700000 baht a month...

most of it goes to buy the drugs which keep the tigers in a subdued state...

one day they'll miscalculate and the tigers will bite off someones arm...

you have to sign a disclaimer before you enter...

if you go, see if you can catch a glimpse of the abbots Benz parked at the back of the house...

i have a mate who runs tours out there, but he NEVER goes down to the tigers...waits outside suppin a cold beer!!

accident waiting to happen...as has been said already

this is thailand baby!! not to high on the health and safty thing here.
if you trust wild tigers you're welcom to them mate, just remember who is looking after them.

There are serious animal welfare concerns over this place. For years now they have been telling the world they are preparing these magnificent animals to nature - They have done nothing of the sort.

When not on show, the tigers are kept in extremely small cages and in anycase, since when has having tigers introduced to humans (tourists) been good preperation for setting them free in the jungles.

It's the old Safron Tinted Specticles trick - Monks wouldn't do that .... would they?

What misplaced cynicism!

The Abbot is a very genuine man who cares for all living creatures, in the true tradition of the Lord Buddha. Looking after tigers was thrust upon him when he agreed to buy some abandoned cubs from some Moslems. They (the cubs, that is, not the Moslems) would otherwise have died.

His reputation as someone who cared spread, and things grew from there.

The tigers are (relatively) passive because of their extensive contact with human beings - not because they are drugged. (Compare a loved pet dog with a savage soi dog - it's the same thing.)

One problem they have is that the current tiger population has had so much human contact that they can't be returned to the wild. There is a serious project to build a tiger "island" behind the monastery where the next generation of tigers will grow up with little human contact, so they can, in time, be set free. The monastery has already acquired the land, thanks to generous donations. More money is required to complete the infrastructure, though the army has donated some time and effort for free.

And as for "The sooner it gets closed down and the animals are sent to a caring zoo, the better" - have you actually seen the conditions of the zoos in Thailand?

Originally Posted by Oswulf

Looking after tigers was thrust upon him when he agreed to buy some abandoned cubs

How was it 'thrust upon him' he chose to do it, no-one forced him ?

It was "thrust upon him" because of his great compassion for all life. He had no choice but to accept the orphan baby tigers.

Err, I never said anything about sending them to a zoo in Thailand - probably the worst thing that could happen.

Whatever you feel about keeping tigers, they simply don't belong in a cage to be paraded for an hour a day to a group of doting (or cynical) tourists. They are not domesticated animals, no matter what their exposure to humans. There are lions in the wild in Africa who will happily ignore humans and sometimes even get on with them, but they are not domesticated, and still enjoy their freedom.

They should be putting more effort into educating people either not to buy them as pets (which is probably where most of them come from) or into stopping the illegal buying and selling of a protected species.

The TAT have admitted that the tigers are given drugs to reduce their sense of smell (and probably to stop them going for the tourists) but if the monks want to be true to their beliefs then they should be doing all they can to stop the whole thing and make sure the tigers return to their natural way of life. I don't see how saving up 20,000,000 baht to build an island and better conditions is taking a step towards that aim. For as long as this is touted as a tourist attraction, I can't see anyone doing anything to discourage it.

It was "thrust upon him" because of his great compassion for all life. He had no choice but to accept the orphan baby tigers.

I doubt he complains when they bring in 700000 baht a month

Wallance please name or give me the number to that TAT person telling you that they drug or make the smell less. I really want to check that out. I know Fiona Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery ( Tiger Temple ) very well and she been working and feeding the tigers there for more then 1 year. She is 100 % for the tigers and do not support drugs for animals. What they do they do not give them blood, like just chicken or dog food no bloody beef.
But YES they need a PLAN and since it is Thai runing the place they have no idea what they doing right now.