The Fate of Tiger Temple in Thailand

Photo: Tourists watching chained tigers in the Tiger Temple in Thailand, photo taken in June 2004

The picture shows an area inside the Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno) located in the Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand.

Established as a Buddhist forest temple and wildlife sanctuary in 1994, it had about 150 tigers, other animals and birds as of January 2016. The star attraction of the sanctuary was the Tiger Island, spread over five hectares and completed in 2011 at a cost of over US$ 2.5 million. It had 28 tiger enclosures and was a huge hit with local tourists and backpackers.

The whole complex presented a romantic picture, monks living with tigers and other wild animals in perfect harmony. You too could have been part of such a mystical harmony, getting photographed with tigers or even taking a selfie with the magnificent feline friends.

But for a price; reportedly, the entrance fee per head ranged from US$17 to US$140, earning millions of dollars for the temple management.

Over the years, the temple had been accused of illegal breeding and controversial commercial activities. A number of NGOs and conservation and animal rights groups contacted the Thai authorities urging them to take action against the temple.

The NGOs alleged clandestine exports to a tiger farm in Laos, among many other allegations, and asked the authorities to conduct genetical tests to determine the subspecies and pedigree of the big cats.

Breeding tigers for commercial use is restricted by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to which Thailand is a signatory, and the unlicensed breeding violates Thai laws too.

The authorities had been persuading the monks to stop all illegal activities. They also wanted the monks to stop exposing tourists to hazardous contact with tigers. The NGOs had already pointed out that there are up to 60 reported incidents annually of captive tigers attacking tourists and/or attendants.

On May 30, 2016, more than 500 officers consisting of wildlife officials, police and vets raided the temple complex. They seized 137 living tigers, 40 frozen cub corpses, a dead bear, a large number of body parts of other animals preserved in freezers and horns of various animals. Some of the dead cubs were found preserved in formaldehyde. They also found protected birds such as hornbills that were being reared without license.

The police also stopped the abbot's secretary trying to flee with tiger skins, over 1000 amulets containing pieces of tiger skin, and other contraband items. They also seized trucks loaded with protected Siamese rosewood.

Some packed carcasses of cubs in containers had labels in English implicating they were for local sale or international trade.

The subspecies of the tigers in this unscientifically maintained sanctuary is not clearly known. However, it is believed that they are mostly Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris corbetti), along with subspecies such as Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) and some hybrids resulting from cross breeding. One animal was identified as a Royal Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris).

With the help of animal welfare charities, the tigers were rehabilitated by the authorities.

Stuffed Snakehead Fish: a popular Thai cuisine

Public Domain Photo: Snakehead fish stuffed with herbs (mainly lemon grass and lime leaves) on banana leaves, ready for steaming – a popular cuisine in Thailand. Photo dimension: 2816×2112 pixels, size: 2359 KB

Public Domain Photo: Snakehead fish or mudfish (Channa striata). Photo dimension: 489×142 pixels, size: 21 KB

The striped snakehead fish or mudfish (Channa striata, in Thai language: Pla Chon) is very popular in Thai cuisine. Pla ra, a fermented fish sauce, popular in Northeastern Thai cuisine is made by pickling snakehead fish. A Chinese sausage is also prepared with striped snakehead flesh in Thailand. In Indonesia the snakehead fish called gabus is a popular salted fish in Indonesian cuisine.

The snakehead fish (also known as chevron snakehead, aruan or haruan) has also been classified under the binomial names Ophiocephalus striatus Bloch and Ophiocephalus vagus Peters. It can grow to a length of 1 meter in the wild. It can be found in southern China, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, and in most of Southeast Asian countries. It has recently been introduced to Indonesia, Philippines, Mauritius, and into the wild in Hawaii (in the island of Oahu).

Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand

Public Domain Photo: Klong Phrao Beach in Koh Chang Island, Thailand. Dimensions and size: 1746×1176 pixels, 121 KB

Klong Phrao Beach is in Ko Chang Island (or Koh Chang), the second largest island of Thailand located on the east coast, 310 km away from Bangkok, near the Cambodian border in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a mountainous island known for several waterfalls, coral reefs and rainforests. Ko Chang, surrounded by 51 other islands, has become a popular tourist destination in the last decade. About 85% of the island is part of the Mu Ko Chang Marine National Park. Besides its seafood, Ko Chang has plenty of spas comprising of various forms of massage, aromatherapy, herbal scrub, and reflexology. Koh Chang nightlife and bar scene have become popular tourist attractions.

There are plenty of white sandy beaches dotted with hotels and resorts. The island is also home to a wide range of wildlife, including a variety snakes, deer, stump-tailed macaque, the small Indian civet, the Javan mongoose, and over 60 birds species. The island and its vicinity are great places for snorkeling, kayaking/ canoeing, diving, jungle hiking, mountain biking, and elephant trekking. Hat Kai Bae, a sloping and long stretch of beach connecting with Klong Phrao Beach, is suitable for swimming.

Pattaya Floating Market, Thailand

Pattaya Floating Market located to the south of Pattaya, Thailand

Thailand’s Pattaya Floating Market, located to the south of Pattaya on Sukhumvit Road, developed on the site of the Lake View Restaurant, is claimed to be the largest floating market in the Eastern Region. Covering an area of over 100,000 squire meters, the constructions are made of fine teak wood.

In fact, the name 'Floating Market' is a misnomer, because most of the shopping malls are found on platforms constructed on stilts over the lake, though there are floating boats selling delicacies. Still, a visit to the floating market is worth your time and money, if you are visiting Pattaya, and if you miss it, you may regret it when you hear about the market later from others.

The Floating Market aims at capturing the old ways of authentic Thai life. All Thai food delicacies and other Thai art and craft items from all regions of Thailand are sold in the market. Its area is divided into four sections representing the four regions of Thailand: North, Central, North Eastern and Southern.

Apart from shopping for rare Thai souvenirs and relishing authentic Thai food to your hearts content, there are other entertaining activities, such as boating, dance shows and other interesting aspects of Thailand’s culture.

Ko Tapu, James Bond Island, Thailand

PD Photos: Ko Tapu islet, 40 meters west of Khao Phing Kan (James Bond Island), a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park, on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea.

Ko Tapu is a limestone rock formation (an islet), which is about 20 meters (66 feet) tall with the diameter increasing from about 4 meters (13 feet) at water level to about 8 meters (26 feet) at the top. It lies about 40 meters (130 feet) to the west from the northern part of Khao Phing Kan, popularly known as James Bond Island, which is actually a two-island pair located on the west coast of Thailand, in the Phang Nga Bay, Andaman Sea. The island is a part of the Ao Phang Nga National Park.

In the Permian period, the entire area was a barrier reef, which ruptured due to tectonic plate movements, dispersing the broken reefs over the area flooded by the rising sea. Strong winds, waves, water currents and tides gradually eroded them partially, and the remaining portions formed islands, sometimes forming peculiar shapes, such as Ko Tapu. Erosion by tides is clearly visible at the bottom of Ko Tapu.

In Thai language Ko Tapu means ‘nail’ or ‘spike’ island (named after its shape). The island was selected as a location for the 1974 James Bond movie ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’, starring Roger Moore, Christopher Lee and Britt Ekland in key roles. The island was filmed as the hideout for Bond's antagonist, Francisco Scaramanga (the titular ‘Man with the Golden Gun’, played by Christopher Lee).

After the movie was released, Khao Phing Kan Island, and sometimes Ko Tapu, became popularly known as James Bond Island, and it rapidly became a very popular international tourist destination in Thailand. Now the original name of the island is rarely used even by local Thai people.

Since 1998, it is forbidden for tourist boats to approach Ko Tapu, to stop further erosion of the limestone due to waves on and near the islet that might eventually result in its collapse.

Tourists watching tigers in Tiger Temple, Thailand

PD Photo: Tourists watching tigers in the Tiger Temple (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua), a Theravada Buddhist temple in Western Thailand which looks after several tigers that can be petted by visitors.

The Buddhist temple located in Saiyok District of Thailand's Kanchanaburi province close to the border with Myanmar, about 38 km north-west of Kanchanaburi along the 323 highway, was founded in 1994 as a forest temple and sanctuary for numerous wild animals, including tigers. Tourists can even have themselves photographed while they hug or pet the tigers in the open grounds.

The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

The picture of the 2004 tsunami at Ao Nang, Krabi Province, Thailand on 26 December 2004, photo by David Rydevik, Stockholm, Sweden.

The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, with a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3 the second largest earthquake ever recorded, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC on December 26, 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The resultant tsunami hit 14 countries inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (100 feet) high; one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand were the hardest hit.

Tsunamis are sea waves with long wavelength of long wave periods triggered by sudden movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between two wave crests can be over 100 kilometers, and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one hour. Such tsunamis can travel at speeds of 600 to 800 kilometers per hour, depending on the depth of water in the sea or ocean. Large tsunami waves, caused by an earthquake or a submarine (underwater) landslide, can overrun coastal areas on the path of tsunami in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across the ocean and wreak destruction on far off shores hours after the earthquake that generated them.