Travel Pro Places of Interest #239: Chiang Mai Zoo, Thailand! Part One (9 Photos)

I love a good zoo! It's not everyday you get to be up close and personal with all sorts of animals. I've been to zoos all around the world and regardless of the country they all seem to have been pretty good. Some are a little bigger, some are a little smaller, but they all have one thing in common, their filled with animals!

I would say the biggest difference is how affordable they are. To go to the Bronx Zoo in New York City, two tickets will set you back about $70 dollars! And that doesn't include the price for parking or food and soft drinks. To go to the zoo here in Chiang Mai Thailand, two tickets set me back a whopping $8.50! Parking is free and food is Thai prices. I got some great Khao Soi Chicken Curry with noodles for a dollar and quarter and a drink for sixty sense.

The price is only 150 Thai baht which is five dollars for an adult (foreigner) and if you are Thai, and my friend I went with is; her ticket was only 100 baht, about $3.30. What I love about 80% of the planet (basically the non-western countries) is that I can afford to do things like go to the zoo without even thinking twice about the expense, and that's while living on a budget of about 10,000 dollars a year.

Now one might think, what kind of zoo can operate on a ticket price that low? This must be one crappy zoo, right? That is not the case at all. The zoo was large enough to walk all over until your legs were tired. They had all the animals you would expect to see in any zoo, from spider monkeys to hippos and everything in between.

The zoo was spacious, very clean, with very well manicured landscaping. The animals looked well taken care of, there were bathrooms, food stalls, and refreshments stands all over. There were a constant flow of trams you can hop on and off of, and even golf carts for rent if that was your preferred method of getting around the park.

With excellent warm weather year round the Chiang Mai Zoo is a great way to spend the afternoon and still stay on your travel budget! Now come along and see for yourself here at the Zoo in Chiang Mai Thailand!