There are several Tiger Kingdoms in Thailand. See our experience at the Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, Thailand and find out what to expect.
Tiger Kingdom
While we were in Phuket, Thailand we kept driving pass a place named Tiger Kingdom. It looked to me like a go-cart/putt putt type of place. Although, there is a go-kart track out front it is not affiliated with Tiger Kingdom, it is a separate business. It turns out that they have real life tigers you can pet and take photos with. I use that word loosely because we certainly were not sitting there petting them.
There are a lot of rules for approaching and touching the tigers. There were three tigers in the cage we went in. We only took pictures with one of them. One of the tigers we didn’t feel comfortable approaching, it was way too feisty. I’ve read a lot online since we did this experience and have seen where many people say that the tigers are drugged. After our experience I am honestly not sure. There was one tiger that was definitely not drugged. Their website says that they are born here and interact with humans everyday, and because of that they are able to interact with the public. I honestly do not know much about tigers or any animal, so I just don’t know. I do know that it was neat and somewhat scary. I do not think we would do it again. I ask my kids if they would want to do it again and they all said no.
We got to interact with a tiger 12-18 months old and the cost was around $40 per person. We were in the cage with the tiger 10 minutes or less. I think they say 10 minutes, but we wanted out of there. We each got to sit next to one of the tigers and take a photo. Then we got a group photo. And that was it. For an extra fee, you can have a professional photographer take photos of your experience. The fee is super cheap, like 500 baht.
If you want to interact with a baby tiger, it costs more. Although we would have preferred to interact with a baby tiger the day we went the babies were only available for certain times and we were not going to wait around. My oldest could have interacted with a larger tiger since he is 16, but he was not interested in a bigger one. If you are an adult you can go into a cage with fully grown tigers. We did see people doing this, but again, there was no way one of us was going to do that.
Have you been to Tiger Kingdom? What did you think?
More Fun Things to do in Phuket
Where to Stay in Phuket
Should You Get Travel Insurance?
Don’t forget travel insurance! I’m a fan of Allianz Travel insurance, because of the variety of options. Protect yourself from possible injury & theft abroad. I have gotten extremely sick twice now out of the country and Noah has had seizures in Thailand, so I always recommend getting some sort of coverage. Read more about why you should always carry travel insurance here.
Car Rental
If you are looking for a car rental I recommend getting the car at the airport. You can get a car rental for super cheap in Phuket.
