Frigatebird cage, June 2013.

Photo taken on the 4th June 2013.

Comment seems superfluous...the sad thing is that there do seem to be decent zoos in Thailand, so how is this place, in a plum tourist destination, operating in the way shown here and in the appalling bear pit photo?

This is one of the better aviaries too - it has a bit of height (though that's not much use to the present tenant). There are many photos I can post of poorer or severely inadequate enclosures, but I thought the point is illustrated well enough. I'm happy to post more if anyone wants, though.

Although there are some good zoos, Thailand is also riddled with incredibly poor zoos. I didn't see many tourists about on my visit (but I still saw a few and it was near the end of the day). The bear pits are actually quite well-hidden, and I doubt many visitors take time to wander around the clumps of aviaries housing some drab birds; the highlight, I expect, are the photo opportunities and the shows. By having several different shows run throughout the day, the zoo actually saves people the money that they would spend visiting separate bird, snake, monkey, crocodile and elephant parks - which are seen by many as a 'must-do' in order to watch the elephant football or get a tiger photo like their friends did when they came to Thailand.

It does seem like the site has deteriorated a little judging from photos online. Hopefully that's a trigger to downsize and renovate properly. An optimistic view.