We woke up at Bau Tong Lodge. Compared to the location of this hotel -in the middle of a street full of pubs and girl cafés, if you know what I mean- and the dirty bathroom, we've slept fantastic! It was so quiet!
We started our day with a massage by naughty girls. I know what you're all thinking, little pervs, but you got it all wrong. No happy endings for us! We got a massage from Thai inmates... These women are learning some skills to reintegrate back to society. Becoming a masseuse is one of them. The prison opened a salon where they can practice. A one hour massage cost us 180 BHT. That's about 4,5 euro.
First you have to get dressed and put some sort of robe on and then they wash your feet. Their massage techniques are really impressive. They use their whole body. After your massage you get a Thai tea.They really know what they're doing and you have to put aside that they're actually doing time. They're really friendly and gentle. If you're planning to have a Thai massage, do it here! It's a great initiative!
There's also a small restaurant where you can eat or drink something. You also get served by inmates.
A very unique experience!
After our massage we checked in at Siri House again. We got the cat room this time. Just my cup of tea!
We asked Pat to call us a taxi to take us to Tiger Kingdom, probably the most controversial attraction of Thailand. You can get inside a cage here with tigers and they won't harm you. Some say the tigers are drugged, others are convinced they're not. I'd like to think that with my vetnursing background, I would be able to tell if there are drugs involved or not. I wanted to go and look for myself instead of reading the reviews again and again.
I was really excited at first. We started at the little tigers and worked our way up. We had to wait for a few minutes, while watching other people playing with the cubs. When we got to go in there my heart was racing, until I sat next to one that was sleeping and the caretaker pushed me into waking him. I didn't like that. We could pet all the cubs, one by one, but my excitement made room for disappointment and unbelief. How could these beautiful creatures be locked up in here to pleasure tourists? Why don't they teach them to be tigers to release them back in the wild? WHY DON'T THEY EDUCATE PEOPLE ABOUT THESE ANIMALS?? Not a single word was told about their natural way of life, why Tiger Kingdom is what it is and how they train the tigers. It's just a show to make money.
We went on to the next cage: the small ones. Those were quite playful and ran around the whole time. It wasn't easy to get a picture with them.
The medium ones were just laying in the sun, watching each other. Many people would get the impression they're drugged, because they're not active, but every hour/half hour they don't let anyone in the cage and the caretakers play with them. It's like a kitty at home. They don't seem drugged at all if you see how they're jumping to moving leaves and such.
Our last stop: the big cats. They were more active than the medium ones. They were constantly running around and playing with each other. The caretakers needed to get them away from each other so the visitors could pet them. I could sit next to one big tiger. He farted.
My conclusion about Tiger Kingdom: You can't stay away. Your curiosity takes over. I think that's why it still exists... But think about what would happen to the tigers if nobody shows up anymore... They can't be released back into the wild!
About the drugs: Animals can't be that active when drugged AND it's hard to find the right dose for animals to tranquilize them. I don't think a right balance between 'sleep and play' even exists. If there is, you need to take various factors into account. Weight, are they sober or did they eat,... Every tiger would have a different dose. I can't imagine the staff holding on to a log and weighing the tigers every morning before opening. One dose doesn't even last for a day. They should get it a few times a day to hold on to the same effect.
If there are some old fellow-students/teachers who have another opinion or want to point out something I forgot (I've been out for almost two years now), please DO!
I once said that if I could pet a big cat, I would die in peace, but I have to rethink that statement...
After a good shower and reviewing our visit to Tiger Kingdom, we went to see a Thai Boxing Game. Great to clear my mind.
Thai boxing is real fun! It's not only boxing, the fighters put up a show before they start. I voted for blue once, the rest of my faith was in red. Blue won all the fights! Unbelievable!
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