We had heard wonderful things about the Zoo but had never gone until we had a four-year-old to entertain. The Zoo is much bigger than we imagined it would be. Chiang Mai is the eighth largest city in Thailand with only about 200,000 people. And a lot of that growth is recent. My own city is well over double that and our city zoo is best described as quaint. The two hundred plus acers of the Chiang Mai Zoo spreads up Doi Suthep mountain. Sadly, like my home zoo it looks as though there were much better times in past at the zoo in Chiang Mai. This is all from a year ago and during pre-COVID restrictions though not, unfortunately, pre-COVID.
We took a Grab to the Zoo arriving in the early afternoon. I would recommend going much earlier, especially in the rainy season. We took a songthaew back. You will usually see one of the red trucks, and a tuk-tuk or two, hanging about the exit to the Zoo. From the Zoo expect to negotiate a price and be prepared to wait until the truck is mostly full to leave. If you are staying near or in the Old City, it shouldn’t take long for the truck to fill with local and foreign tourists. Getting out and back is easy enough that I would not bother with the expensive roundtrip transfer ticket.
At one point, people had the options of walking the park, driving the park, taking the tram, or opting for the monorail. The monorail is now a decaying relic though the other options were still available at the time of our visit. It is an elegant symbol of better times. Throughout the Zoo there are myriad rough edges. While the Nakornping Bird Park, located in the Zoo, was certainly pretty enough I can count the birds we saw on one hand. That said the Zoo is quite large and you can see the ambition of it.
To get around the Zoo we opted for the tram which I strongly recommend even if you don’t have small children. Even a Thai winter can be quite warm during the day and I cannot imagine trekking the Zoo during the humid and scorching days of summer. Like I said, it’s up a mountain and you are either walking up or downhill at any given time. Even using the tram be prepared for a great deal of walking. I think I mentioned that we chose the carrier over the stroller on this trip. It got used at the Zoo.
The highlight of our trip was feeding the giraffes. At that time, you could buy food from the ladies at the shaded kiosk and feed the giraffes by hand. This might be one of LB’s first memories. Apparently there are other opportunities to feed the animals Zoo approved snacks but we didn’t see any. Other perks for young ones include a library with a play area and a kid’s zone that all close at 15:00. The fact that they are airconditioned contributed to the fact that we had to drag LB away. The bathrooms in the area were the cleanest we encountered in the park.
There is a small but extraordinarily pretty playground at the front of the Zoo. There isn’t much in the way of equipment, but it is made of a beautiful dark wood. The Panda House, Snow Dome, and waterpark are extra. We didn’t even notice the Panda House or Snow Dome. We did see the waterpark which is behind the kid zone. It was 30B as of December 2019. It is an actual, though small, waterpark. It looked quite fun, but we didn’t bring waterpark gear and it was already late by the time we made it up there. We also did not go to the Aquarium but if you choose to do so there is the option of a combination ticket.
Dining options at the Zoo are limited. While there are several sites serving both Thai and international dishes, outside of the main dining pavilion they tend to be snack oriented with chips and candy being the dominant offers. Packing fruit and other healthy snacks with your water and sunscreen and sunscreen is always a good idea.
Even skipping the extra exhibits and using the tram to get around we spent a good three plus hours at the Zoo. If your visit to Chiang Mai extends into weeks instead of days, I do recommend a trek out there with the kid/s. However, it really is not worth squeezing into a shorter itinerary. Without kids I would not recommend it at all unless you simply love zoos. There is too much else to do in the area.