Chiang Mai Zoo

Zoo has a nice layout, but needs a little more upkeep on paths and painting. The 350 entry fee is misleading; you'll end up spending closer to 900/adult if you do everything. A couple recent reviews said they only saw 4 animals. Clearly they don't know how to open their eyes. I skipped a couple areas and still saw 76 species. It is worth checking out if you are here for 2-3 weeks and have ran out of things to do.

Read some other reviews before you go, they were very helpful. Here are some: 1) Tram is a must! or else you'll suffer and wish you took it from the beginning cause there are alot of walking and climbing. Tram has 13 points that he stops at, you can hop off at a point, walk a little around and then hop on again into the next one. Price for tram is 70 THB. There is golf cart (for 4 or 6 persons) as an other option. 2) there are alot of activities and each one need to pay for it, entry fee to the zoo at the beginning is a must and cost 350 THB for adult, then there is the tram or golf cart fee. there are snow area and Dino area which we passed and I think it doesn't worth it except if you have kids and they love that things, and there is the aquarium which we passed too and it costs 450 THB, and finally there is the penguin feedings which was expensive and we passed it too but luckily visiting the penguins room was free and we had a lot of fun time there and highly recommend it. 3) alot of animals are missing! Some other animals are in single numbers only! To name some: Panda, Orangutan, Rhino, crocodiles, Gibbons.

Very vast and huge area, rather low animal population. NO panda, no aquarium. I recommend using a cart to get around, as it goes up and down A LOT. It is s nice afternoon activity for 350 THB per adult. But don't expect too much.

Chiang Mai Zoo (including Tram & Aquarium) – Monsoon Season Notes Total cost for one adult: approx. 900 baht (zoo entry + aquarium + tram). They do the tourist tax and it's pretty significant. WALKING HAZARD (this is serious) Don't walk it if it's been raining. I'm someone who averages 12–20 km a day and I still slipped while cautiously walking and gripping onto the rails. The main problems: - Smooth sloped concrete paths with no grip - Algae buildup makes it worse than it looks - Water channels and grooves funnel rotting leaves and garbage right to the centre of the paths where you walk - Piles of rotting leaves just left there to compost - Several areas alternate between ramps and stairs without logic, some slopes are a dangerous angle even if you are wearing hiking shoes like myself. If you're even slightly unsteady on your feet, just take the tram. TRAM Recommended even if you're fit. It does a full loop and stops at all the major exhibits. You can hop off, take a look, and hop back on the next one. Saves time and knees. Trams constantly loop too, so you can just rest and wait for the next. They do thin out around closing time. AQUARIUM Worth the detour. You have to buy a zoo ticket first, but the aquarium is modern, well-kept, and nicely air-conditioned. Kids would enjoy it, and it's a good escape from the heat or humidity. GROUNDS The gardens and general landscaping are gorgeous, a massive credit to their groundskeepers.. It’s just let down by unsafe walking surfaces. ANIMALS Decent variety. But during rain, expect them to be hiding. Not really the zoo’s fault, just something to be aware of. SUMMARY Dry day: do the full walk if you're fit. Still watch your footing. Wet day: take the tram. Seriously. Do not try to do it all on foot unless you like skating involuntarily. It’s a solid zoo with some great highlights, but the path safety is a real problem.

View and environment are great but the area is too large so should rent a buggy car. However, a buggy car can't stop during the ride except specific parking area so you still gotta walk a little bit to see those animals. And sometimes, the area smell is not great. But overall, if you have time, my recommendation is to rent buggy for 2 or 3 hours, which cost 350 per hours when I go, so you can stop and relax and will be able to see all

The entrance fee is quite expensive, and inside you have to pay extra for additional exhibition, such as the aquarium. Many areas are closed, including the panda exhibit (the panda is no longer here). Most animals are kept in small enclosures, and they don’t look very happy. There is a train that drives around the zoo, but it was full, and we couldn’t get on at the intermediate stops. Overall, the visit felt poorly organized and depressing. I would not recommend coming here — spend your time elsewhere in Chiang Mai instead.

Had a very funny experience here with a couple mates. First we paid 20 Baht for motorbike parking, then 350 Baht for the entrance fee. This zoo is huge and you either have to rent a golf cart or buy tickets for the tram that goes around the zoo. If you have a couple people I highly recommend 2-3 hours on the golf cart (I believe it was 600 Baht total for 2 hours). We had a blast making our way through the zoo on the golf cart but found most of the animals were just not in the enclosures and some enclosures were definitely unethical. If you want to do the Aquarium that's also an additional fee (we skipped). Was not busy at all.

It covers a large area and since it's on the mountains, some places are little steep.Recommend taking a tram ride and visit all the stops.