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Chiang Mai zoo panda Lin Hui

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Zoo (Day 4, Part 1)

Date:  22nd November 2010

Yesterday evening was nice. Today was the last day of Loy Krathong, and I’m guessing tonight’s events were going to be a ‘grand finale’ to the festival. But first, I decided to move out of Rux Thai and take a single room at Centerplace Guesthouse because I was going to be out all day and tomorrow morning, I would leave for Chiang Rai.

A single room at Centerplace Guesthouse costs just 200 baht (Rs. 300/$6.7/€4.5).

After transferring my bags, I decided to spend my morning at Chiang Mai Zoo, which is en route to Doi Suthep.

Chiang Mai zoo entrance ThailandNow I knew Chiang Mai Zoo wasn’t going to be as impressive as Singapore Zoo, but the main reason I chose to visit the zoo is to see a rare animal I rank among my favourites in the animal kingdom — the giant panda!

Chiang Mai Zoo has three of them. But the entrance fees to the zoo are broken up by the individual attractions the place has to offer. The zoo fee costs just ฿100, but it does not include the chance to see the pandas. That’s another ฿100. Also, if you want avail the open air bus, that’s ฿20. So all-in-all, I paid ฿220 (Rs. 325/$7.2/€5) for my entry.

Chiang Mai entrance elephant fountainFlamingos Chiang Mai zoo ThailandChiang Mai zoo white parrot

Indian elephant Chiang Mai zoo
The Indian elephant

I walked a bit, saw a few animals at the entrance that I’ve seen many time before and then hopped on to the zoo bus to head straight for the pandas.

Chiang Mai zoo minibus
You have a driver who gives commentary about the attractions as you go along, but it’s only in Thai
Chiang Mai zoo panda statues
I got down here
Chiang Mai zoo Lin Ping house entrance
You hand over the panda entry ticket here
Chiang Mai zoo way to Lin Ping house
First up, Lin Ping, the youngest panda in Chiang Mai Zoo
Chiang Mai zoo Lin Ping playground
This is Lin Ping’s playground. So, where is Lin Ping? (Photo taken on Nokia E72)
Chiang Mai zoo Lin Ping sleep
To the extreme right corner… she was asleep (I hope)
Pandas in Thailand Chiang Mai zoo
Chiang Mai Zoo has 3 pandas, among the only 35 outside China

While young Lin Ping gets her massive play ground, her parents Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui are in a separate air-conditioned enclosure not too far away.

Chuang Chuang panda Chiang Mai zoo
“Ni hao” (Chinese for “hello”)
Chiang Mai zoo panda Lin Hui walking wood
This is the female panda Lin Hui

Chiang Mai zoo panda Lin Hui Chiang Mai zoo panda eating
Chiang Mai zoo panda Thailand
Chiang Mai zoo panda Thailand

Chiang Mai zoo panda Lin Hui playing
Play time for Lin Hui

Panda playing Chiang Mai zooChiang Mai zoo Lin Hui lookingChiang Mai panda walking ThailandChiang Mai zoo panda plants

Chiang Mai zoo Chuang Chuang eating
And this bloke here is Xuang Xuang (Chuang Chuang)
Chiang Mai zoo Xuang Xuang panda eating Thailand
Fussy eater! 🙂
Chiang Mai zoo Chuang Chuang sucking thumb
Post-brunch sucking-of-thumb*
Chiang Mai zoo Chuang Chuang eating bamboo
Then ‘tooth pick’ 🙂
Panda Xuang Xuang Chiang Mai zoo
Look at its ears! 🙂
Chiang Mai zoo panda Xuang Xuang eating
Lin Ping was actually born using insemination because this bloke wasn’t interested in ‘doing the job’ with wifey
Chiang Mai zoo Lin Hui eating bamboo
The entire process of how they inseminated Lin Hui is explained near Lin Ping’s section
Chuang Chuang Lin Hui pandas information Chiang Mai zoo
The first two pandas at Chiang Mai zoo

After getting my panda fix, I moved on.

Chiang Mai zoo monorail train
The zoo has a monorail service too (which costs extra as well)
Chiang Mai zoo 7eleven store
And the ubiqitous 7-Eleven can be found inside the zoo as well

I took the tram car again, and it stopped for a while at the newly opened aquarium.

Chiang Mai zoo aquarium entry fee
At those prices, I wasn’t keen on checking it out

Chiang Mai zoo aquarium lake

Chiang Mai zoo monorail service

Chiang Mai zoo ducks pond

Chiang Mai zoo sign Thailand

Chiang Mai zoo koala tree Thailand
Tree hug

Chiang Mai koalas tree

Chiang Mai zoo koala sleeping on tree
Koalas were busy sleeping

Chiang Mai zoo koala sleeping waking upChiang Mai zoo koala sleeping

Chiang Mai zoo koala sleeping fact
Natural born sleepers
Chiang Mai zoo Dunger koala tail
Dunger is one of the koalas
Chiang Mai zoo kids park
The Kids park

They have a kids section with a bunch of cute animals and some rather interesting tiny creatures.

Chiang Mai zoo pygmy marmoset Thailand
This creature is called the pygmy marmoset
Chiang Mai zoo pygmy marmoset
It’s a really tiny animal and it moved funnily

Pygmy marmoset Chiang Mai zooChiang Mai zoo kids parkChiang Mai zoo kids park garden flowers

Chiang Mai zoo deer park reindeers
I moved on to the deer section next

Chiang Mai zoo deer park

Chiang Mai zoo deer walkway
There’s an overhead walkway

Chiang Mai zoo reindeerChiang Mai zoo ibex deer

Lama Chiang Mai zoo
Lamas
Chiang Mai zoo steep hill
I walked to the next attraction
Chiang Mai zoo monorail track view
There was a huge tree trunk which had a set of stairs you could climb to get this view (Taken on my Nokia E72)

Next, I entered a birds enclosure.

Chiang Mai zoo Lady Amherst's pheasant
Lady Amherst’s pheasant
Chiang Mai zoo Lady Amherst's pheasant tail
Lovely looking thing
Great hornbill Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Great Hornbill
Trumpeter hornbill Chiang Mai zoo
Trumpeter hornbill
Oriental pied hornbill Chiang Mai zoo
Oriental pied hornbill
Indian peacock Chiang Mai zoo
India’s national bird — the peacock (Edit: A reader just pointed out it took a dump. Didn’t even notice that until she told me!)
Country rooster Chiang Mai zoo
Got the lighting right on this one
Siamese fireback pheasant Chiang Mai zoo
Siamese fireback pheasant

Pheasant Chiang Mai zooPheasants Chiang Mai zoo

Chiang Mai zoo birds enclosure panorama
This is the birds enclosure (Panorama comprised of 6 shots)
White bellied sea eagle Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Birds of prey next. This is the White bellied sea eagle
Black kite Chiang Mai zoo staring
A kite… staring at me

White breast kite Chiang Mai zoo

Grey head fish eagle Chiang Mai zoo
Grey head fish eagle
Black kite eyes Chiang Mai zoo
Seriously, stop staring
Black kite beak head Chiang Mai zoo
“Duuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”
Ostrich Chiang Mai zoo
Ostrich (if you didn’t know)
Porcupine Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Porcupines

After the birds, next up was a large open section entirely for Gibbons.

White gibbon monkey swinging Chiang Mai zoo
Apes with really long arms

Black gibbon teeth Chiang Mai zooGibbon monkey hanging tree Chiang Mai zoo

Gibbon swinging on tree Chiang Mai zoo
It was fun to watch these gibbons swing around

Gibbon sitting on tree Chiang Mai zoo

Chiang Mai zoo buddhist monks
The gibbons have a pretty large playground
Siamese crocodile Chiang Mai zoo
But they share the compound with a Siamese crocodile

Buddhist monk golden umbrella Chiang Mai zoo ThailandGibbon section Chiang Mai zooWhite handed gibbons Chiang Mai zooWhite handed gibbon closeup Chiang Mai zoo

Gibbons fighting Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Fun to watch apes play-fight
White handed gibbon feet shape Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Look at their feet. Nature and its designs!

White handed gibbons fighting Chiang Mai zoo ThailandWhite handed gibbon scratching Chiang Mai zoo

Rhinoceros Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
The only Rhinoceros in Thailand
Rhino stegosaurus head Chiang Mai zoo
When I saw this photo, I thought to myself “Looks so much like a stegosaurus”
Elephant ride Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
They have elephant rides here, costs extra of course

Chiang Mai zoo elephant ride Thailand

Humboldt penguins Chiang Mai zoo
Humboldt penguins, in a seperate temeprature-controlled zone

Penguins Chiang Mai zoo Thailand

Chiang Mai zoo Thailand pathway
It’s only at this point I realized Chiang Mai Zoo is quite big
View Chiang Mai city from Chiang Mai zoo
It occupies a large area and is quite hilly

Chiang Mai zoo mountain goat

Shooting club ATV Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
The irony of having a shooting club inside a zoo(!) is beyond me
Luge car station Chiang Mai zoo
The land has the slopes for luge riding, but I didn’t see anybody in the cars
Chiang Mai zoo tree panorama
Went in search for more animals
Black bear Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
The Asian black bear
Black bear sad face Chiang Mai zoo
🙁
Black bear Chiang Mai zoo wall
Poor thing only has his shadow to talk to
African lion Chiang Mai zoo
Didn’t look at her for too long
Monkey Chiang Mai zoo
More monkeys
Assamese macaque Chiang Mai zoo Thailand
Assamese macaque

Assamese macaques Chiang Mai zoo Thailand

Pig tailed macaque Chiang Mai zoo
Pig tailed macaque
Emu Chiang Mai zoo
Emu
Ostrich feather Chiang Mai zoo
The Bare-bum Ostrich*

Monorail track Chiang Mai zoo

White tiger Chiang Mai zoo
And finally, the beautiful white tiger

White tiger Chiang Mai zoo Thailand

Elephant Chiang Mai zoo
Passed the same elephant on the way out

Also on the way out, I couldn’t help but buy a small souvenir from Chiang Mai zoo. They were selling stuffed toys of the zoo’s main stars, the pandas. I bought a small Lin Ping souvenir for 150 baht.

All in all, I must have spent nearly 4 hours in Chiang Mai zoo. A lot longer than I thought I would spend. I mostly came to see the pandas and ended up seeing pretty much everything the zoo had to showcase.

Garden Chiang Mai zooSo is a visit to Chiang Mai zoo worth it? Well, Singapore Zoo didn’t have pandas (they only get them in 2012), and even koalas, when I visited back in September. So yes, this visit was time and money well-spent. At half the price of Singapore Zoo, you still see a lot of animals. Chiang Mai zoo also has animal shows and even a Night Safari. How good those are, I didn’t bother to find out of sheer dis-interest.

Entry Doi Suthep Chiang Mai Thailand
Go up this way for Doi Suthep
Chiang Mai afternoon road
I got back pretty late in the afternoon
Chiang Mai lunch rice seafood curry
So I had a late lunch at the small eatery
Chiang Mai afternoon Wat canal
Chiang Mai looked pleasant as ever
Chiang Mai afternoon Loy Krathong
Floats were gathering
Chiang Mai afternoon Loy Krathong float
Another Grand Parade tonight?

Chiang Mai Thapae road afternoon

Rachadamnoen road Chiang Mai
Rachadamnoen road looked empty today
Chiang Mai Yi Peng float preparations
I asked them what time it would start and they said ‘at sunset’

I had some time, so I decided to go back to my room and rest a bit.

Centerplace Guesthouse single room bed
This is what a single bed room at Centerplace Guesthouse looks like (Lin Ping on the bed is not included in the ฿200. I just put her there)
Centerplace guesthouse single room toilet
The toilet is clean, and has hot shower

I lied down for a while — this day wasn’t over yet.


Next posts in this series:

Next posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Last day of Loi Krathong; Sunday Grand Parade (Day 4, Part 2)

Thailand 2010: Heading to Chiang Rai by bus, Wat Jedyod and Golden Clock Tower

Thailand 2010: Golden Triangle in Mae Sai; Chiang Rai’s White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)

Thailand 2010: Pattaya — Beach road, Viewpoint, Jomtien Beach, Walking Street

Thailand 2010: Back to Bangkok — Chinatown, Patpong, Platinum Mall and Chatuchak Market

Thailand 2010: Gurdwara Siri Guru Singh Sabha, Sampeng Market, JJ market (again)

Thailand 2010: Damnoen Saduak Floating Market tour, Cobra show… and leaving Bangkok

Previous posts in this series:

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai Loi Krathong celebrations; first Grand Parade

Thailand 2010: Chiang Mai cooking class; Loi Krathong celebrations in Mae Jo, Sansai

Thailand 2010: First day in Chiang Mai for Loi Krathong; driving up Doi Suthep

Thailand 2010: Arriving in Bangkok and preparing for Loi Krathong in Chiang Mai

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