Western Double Standards: Tiger Tourism in Thailand

This commentary was originally written in 2019, after a child was injured by a leopard during a family outing at a Thai animal park — an incident that sparked a heated debate on social media at the time. We're using that as a reason to look at big cat tourism in Thailand in 2026 with documented facts rather than outrage, and to put our original opinion on it into perspective at the end.

Tiger Temple: a turning point in 2016

The best-known turning point for Thailand's tiger tourism industry was the closure of the so-called "Tiger Temple" (Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua) in Kanchanaburi province. On 30 May 2016, hundreds of Thai officials, including police, military and wildlife experts, searched the site. They counted and seized around 137 tigers on the premises; in the temple's freezer, authorities also found 40 dead tiger cubs, and several monks and staff were investigated on suspicion of illegal wildlife trafficking. The temple has been permanently closed to visitors since 2016. According to several media reports, a high proportion of the rescued tigers subsequently died in state-run holding facilities over the following years, mainly from disease — a reminder of just how difficult even well-intentioned handling of such a large number of confiscated wild animals turns out to be in practice.

How is tiger tourism regulated in Thailand today?

Thailand overhauled its wildlife legislation in 2019 with the Wild Animal Conservation and Protection Act B.E. 2562, which replaced the previous 1992 act. As a CITES signatory, commercial trade in tigers and tiger parts is banned under international law, as is uncontrolled commercial breeding. Even so, animal welfare organisations such as World Animal Protection and For Tigers have argued for years that enforcement remains patchy: a widely cited World Animal Protection survey counted around 830 tigers in captivity across 17 major tiger tourism venues in Thailand — a third more than in 2010. The organisation has continued to describe the industry's growth as a cause for concern. We don't have a full, up-to-date count for 2026, but the scale involved shows that keeping tigers in captivity in Thailand is far from a thing of the past, despite the Tiger Temple closure and tighter laws.

Is there still a tiger attraction on Koh Samui?

Yes. In Lamai on Koh Samui, the Samui Aquarium and Tiger Zoo has operated since the late 1990s, showing tigers and leopards alongside an aquarium. The animal welfare organisation For Tigers has published its own, publicly available assessment of the venue, documenting small enclosures, a lack of retreat space, and repetitive stress behaviour in the tigers kept there. The operator's own website (as of 18 September 2026) states that the tiger, bird and sea lion shows are currently unavailable. Whether that's a temporary pause or a permanent scaling-back of the show programme isn't something we can establish with certainty from public information — if you're considering a visit, ask the operator directly about the current situation first. This attraction isn't offered through kohsamui.tours or kohsamuiausflug.de.

Commentary: where's the consistency?

The following section is our opinion, not a factual claim about any specific business or individual. Our original point from 2019 still holds up, in our view: criticism of how Thailand's tourism industry treats wild animals is fair and important. At the same time, we notice a certain inconsistency when that same criticism is rarely applied with equal force to animal farming back home in the West. Intensive factory farming of cattle and pigs in cramped conditions, the routine, still-legal culling of male chicks in egg production in many countries, horses kept in cramped stalls for most of the day, or ponies trudging in circles at fairgrounds, are all practices that remain perfectly legal in Western countries and attract noticeably less public outrage than comparable practices elsewhere. That doesn't invalidate legitimate criticism of real problems in Thailand's tiger tourism industry — but it does undercut the ease with which some online commentary voices that criticism, without applying the same standard closer to home. Our takeaway: if you're going to criticise how animals are treated elsewhere, apply the same yardstick to your own habits first.

Timeline: tiger tourism in Thailand

How to make a better choice as a visitor

If you'd like to see animals in Thailand up close without contributing to their strain, a simple rule of thumb from World Animal Protection helps: avoid anything involving riding, shows, or direct photo contact with big cats, and favour venues built around observation from a distance instead. Some concrete pointers:

• Warning signs: photo ops holding cubs, riding or petting actively advertised, animals that seem listless or are visibly chained, no retreat space away from visitors at all.
• Good signs: viewing only from a distance or behind adequate glass/fencing with enough space, staff who explain where the animals came from and the sanctuary's approach, no shows involving forced tricks.

For elephants, an option built on that same principle now exists on Koh Samui itself, as a feeding-only activity with no riding:

from 900 THBKoh Samui Elephant Home Animal Shelter Feeding Activity★★★★★5.00 from 14 reviews

Frequently asked questions

Is there still a tiger attraction on Koh Samui?

Yes, the Samui Aquarium and Tiger Zoo in Lamai still keeps tigers and leopards. Its animal shows were listed as temporarily unavailable by the operator as of September 2026 — ask directly about the current situation before visiting.

Where in Thailand do wild tigers still live?

The most important population lives in the Western Forest Complex on the border with Myanmar, mainly within the Huai Kha Khaeng-Thung Yai protected area. There, the number of photographically confirmed tigers rose from under 40 in 2007 to 94 in a survey concluded in November 2023 — one of the few documented recovery successes for wild tigers in Southeast Asia.

What animals live on Koh Samui?

Wild animals on the island include macaques, monitor lizards, numerous bird species and snakes; most species stick to denser vegetation away from tourist areas and avoid people. Tigers and leopards don't occur in the wild on Koh Samui.

Are sharks or snakes on Koh Samui dangerous?

Barely. Harmless reef sharks such as blacktip reef sharks are occasionally seen around Koh Samui and pose no threat to swimmers; shark incidents in Thailand as a whole are extremely rare. You're also unlikely to encounter a snake as a tourist, since most species avoid contact with people. If you are bitten, the general advice applies: stay calm and get to a clinic straight away.

For more on how animals are treated around Koh Samui, see our article on Pig Island, the island of pigs off Koh Samui, and for more common stereotypes fact-checked, our Top 10 Misconceptions About Thailand.