April | 2008 | Living In And Around Happy Street

Kanchanaburi
Kanchanaburi, Thailand

Kanchanaburi, Thailand

I wanted to see the Tiger temple first and foremost, but the way they packaged the day tour is that one had to also go to visit the Death Railway and ‘Bridge over River Kwai’ … since they were all located in Kanchanaburi … no choice … so had to go lah.

We visited the War Cemetery, the JEATH Museum and parts of the railway and the bridge itself, in honour of the more than 100,000 POWs who died constructing this railway. Sad … Highlight was for me, the 2nd part of the day trip. After lunch, the group split into people who were going for Elephant rides vs those going to the Tiger Temple … just me, in this case, from my group. So I was transferred into another vehicle of light-minded travelers.

The Wat Luang Ta Bua Yanna Sampanno, more popular known was the Tiger Temple, had become famous after 1999, when the temple adopted a tiger cub after poachers had killed its mother. One thing led to another and they now care for more than 10 full grown tigers and cubs, as well as other animals in the vicinity, fulfilling its call as a refuge for all life. The guide on my minibus explained that the tigers are fed on a diet of cooked food, hence had no urge for raw meat. In the afternoon, the tigers are taken out of their cages and to an enclosed canyon where visitors were allowed, under supervision, to pose with these tigers up-close (for a fee of S$20). Whether the Tigers have been tamed by the monks to such an effect that it is so docile or not is still much speculated. To be honest, some of them, like the one in this picture, looks pretty heavily sedated to me. However, like it or not, a wild sedated tiger will still go for your throat, and not lie here with its head on one’s lap like it is doing now, so it is clearly docile-lised by the monks to a very large extent, whatever it is that they have done to’em. (Just a few years later and the full scandal would break. Sigh … )

Whatever the case is, I did not pass up a chance to be so up close and personal with these so-called Kings of the jungle in this manner … given nothing or any investigations into them had yielded anything then 🙂 Oh, another point to note, that amongst all the visitors queuing up for their photo op with these great creatures, I was the only yellow-skinned one there … hhhmmm … we Asians less adventourous? I swear I have friends who will do the same, leh … anyone care to offer me your opinions? *scratch head*