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Trip to thailand this winter

Discussion in 'Thailand' started by Pedro, 2 Oct 2008.

  1. Pedro

    Pedro Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    30 Oct 2007
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    Location:
    Paris, France
    Hi there!

    I'm currently organizing a zoo trip to Thailand for December-January this year.
    I'll arrive there on Dec 31st by plane in mid-morning and will leave by train to Malaysia early afternoon on Jan 6th.
    My schedule goes as follows... tell me if you see anything wrong :

    Dec 31st : Arrival in Bangkok, Pata zoo and shopping around bangkok... also look for animal markets (fishes, birds) if there's any
    Jan 1st : Dusit zoo, whole day
    Jan 2nd : Siam Ocean World whole day (if time left, tourism in Bangkok)
    Jan 3rd : whole day at Khao Kheow open zoo and Bang Saen Aquarium
    Jan 4th : second day to Dusit zoo and/or Siam ocean world, then night train to CHiang Mai
    Jan 5th : Chiang Mai zoo, whole day, night train to Bangkok
    Jan 6th : Early morning tourism in Bangkok, maybe visit again to pata zoo or animal markets, then train to Malaysia.


    What I would like to know is if there's any other zoo or aquarium, close to Bangkok or Chiang Mai, that I could include to that trip, knowing that I can spend only one day in Chiang Mai and that I won't drive any car... will be on foot.

    Concerning Khao Kheow, i'm thinking of renting a car with a driver for the whole day at the hotel I will be in Bangkok. That will cost probably a few bahts but it's my only unstressfull way to do both Khao Kheow and Bang Sean without getting lost or loosing time. Do you think it's a good Idea? is it possible to mix Khao Kheow and Bang Sean in one day with a trip from and to bangkok?
    Any idea how much the car rental with driver can cost?

    I also heard that there's a snake farm in Bangkok. Is it still open? Worth going there??

    Last question... Is there any live animal market or shops in Bangkok city? like marine fish market, or bird market??

    I have also heard (and seen pics on the gallery) about Pattaya underwater world... where is that located? Is this city close enough to Bangkok?? Do you think I can jam a visit in Pattaya Underwater world in my travel plan without risking missing something elsewhere??

    In advance, thanks a lot for answering me!
     
  2. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I’ve never heard of Pata Zoo. Where is that?
    I was in Thailand in 2006 so just take the following prices as a guide because they change quite rapidly. Dusit Zoo (Khao Din) is 100 Baht entry; its easiest to get there by tuk-tuk (which will probably cost you another 100 Baht). Siam Ocean World is 450 Baht; there’s a train station right outside the Siam Paragon building (the aquarium is in the basement). You wouldn’t need a whole day at Siam Ocean World so plenty of time for shopping and tourism around the city. The cheapest way to get around in Bangkok is by bus but its very confusing if you haven’t used the Bangkok bus system before! The train is the next cheapest and is very easy to use but only covers part of the city. Tuk-tuks are handy for getting around but not for longer distances because they are expensive (say 100 Baht for a tuk-tuk versus maybe 7 Baht on the local bus) and both tuk-tuks and taxis will rip you off as much as they can

    Chiang Mai Zoo is 100 Baht and a songthaew from the city to the zoo shouldn’t cost you more than 50 Baht (just so you know). The night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai cost me about 820 Baht one way. The overnight bus cost about 560 Baht. When I went the tracks were flooded out so I had to transfer from the train to a bus, so on the way back I just took the bus the whole way. Its just as easy to sleep on the bus as on the train.

    The only zoo near Chiang Mai that I know of is the Chiang Mai Zoo itself (and the Night Zoo, which you’ll miss of course if you’re only there for the day). By Bangkok in Minburi is the Safari World which apparently has giant pandas but which I avoided on principle (see my comments in the Khao Kheow thread). In Bangkok is a natural history museum, situated in the zoology block at the Chulalongkorn University. Its free and open to the public but I think rarely visited (they had to unlock the doors for me to get in). There is a lot of Thai wildlife here in preserved form including, for example, white-eyed river martin. The University is easily reached by bus, train, tuk-tuk or taxi.

    It will cost you a LOT I think to hire a car and driver to do Khao Kheow from Bangkok but it is the only way to do it easily if you can’t drive yourself. (Alternatively you could take the bus to Chonburi – about 55 Baht from Bangkok – and hire a songthaew or taxi there for the day but you probably wouldn’t be saving much). Bang Saen’s not a large aquarium (its at the Marine Science Institute at the Burapha University) so you can do both Khao Kheow and Bang Saen on the same day so long as you leave Bangkok early. I would do the aquarium first thing in the morning then spend the rest of the day at Khao Kheow. Bang Saen is 100 Baht, and is open 8.30 to 4 on weekdays, 8.30 to 5.30 (I think) on weekends. Khao Kheow is also 100 Baht and is open 8 to 6.

    All I know about car rental is that it cost me 1400 Baht for a car for two days at Chiang Mai, and 600 for petrol; and Chiang Mai would be a lot cheaper than in Bangkok.

    I vaguely recall seeing “snake farm” and “crocodile farm” on a map of Bangkok when I was over there but that’s all I can say. John Nichol’s “The Animal Smugglers” (1987) discusses the Samutprakan crocodile farm outside Bangkok which had 30,000 crocodiles and also a zoo (in which an unfortunate tiger posed for photos with tourists – but which had had all the bones in its feet removed so that it couldn’t stand or hurt anybody). Personally I avoid crocodile farms.

    The Chatuchak Weekend Market (on Saturday and Sunday obviously, open 7am to 6pm) sells EVERYTHING!!! Its huge and very confusing to navigate. Books, clothes, flowers, framed insects, you name it and its there somewhere. There is a big illegal animal trade here but you won’t see it: they are raided regularly and so all the illegal stuff is kept well hidden. Instead its mainly pets on view – including a very large number of pedigree puppies surprisingly. The most heartbreaking sight here are the baby squirrel stalls selling dozens and dozens of barely-weaned squirrels with their teeth and claws removed and tied by their necks with ribbons so they don’t escape. The Market is easily reached by bus, tuk-tuk or train.

    Pattaya can be reached from Bangkok by bus. It takes about 2.5 hours. It is south of Chonburi (1.5 hours from Bangkok) so potentially, given that you’ll have a car and driver, you could leave very early from Bangkok, do Pattaya Underwater World first thing in the morning then head back up to Chonburi and do Bang Saen late morning and Khao Kheow in the afternoon. It would be a rushed day but it could be done. Having said that, I didn’t think much of Pattaya Underwater World. It is quite nice but if you’ve already been to the Siam Ocean World then Pattaya Underwater World comes across as a very poor second (and the town itself is a horrible little tourist hole). Bang Saen is a completely different sort of aquarium (a University aid rather than a flash tourist attraction) and I liked it a lot, but its very much a matter of taste.

    If you do go to Pattaya on the bus its about 120 Baht each way from Bangkok (and then a songthaew to the aquarium for around 100-200 Baht depending on how much the driver feels like taking you for). The entry price to the Underwater World is a hefty 360 Baht.
     
    Last edited: 3 Oct 2008
  3. Pedro

    Pedro Well-Known Member

    Joined:
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    Paris, France
    Hi Chlidonias, Thank you very much for all these helpfull information!
    After what you said, I think i'll leave Pattaya out of my schedule, unless I really find myself to have a whole day free and nothing to do, which will probably not be the case.
    I found the name Pata zoo on a thai tourist website, it seems to be the name of this small zoo, located on top of a commercial center, in Bangkok. Have you visited it?
     
  4. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I hadn't heard of the Pata "zoo" when I was over in Thailand so I didn't visit, and judging from what I've read I definitely won't visit it when I return to Thailand. This is an article about the appalling place (I originally posted it as a link in the Chiang Mai thread, then forgot about it, but it seems that link doesn't work now, so here goes...)
    Menagerie on Top Floors of Thai Department Store - International Primate Protection League ~ IPPL
     
    Last edited: 6 Oct 2008