I love spending time in natural places — parks, nature reserves and some zoos — and watching the animal and plant world. In Kuala Lumpur we visited the bird park, in the Philippines a tarsier sanctuary, in the small village of Ban Phe the local aquarium, and in Bangkok we strolled through several parks. So I simply couldn’t skip Bangkok’s zoo — Dusit Zoo.
The main point first: Dusit Zoo no longer exists. Thailand’s Zoological Park Organization (ZPO) closed it on 30 September 2018, and the animals were moved to other zoos around the country. A replacement is being built outside the city, in Pathum Thani province (Thanyaburi district, Khlong 6): according to Thai media, as of August 2026 the first phase was 92.54% complete, a first, free opening is promised for April 2027, and the full new zoo for early 2029. So Bangkok currently has no city zoo. Where to go with children instead — Safari World in Bangkok itself or Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province — is covered in the first section. The rest is our account of Dusit from our 2014 article, when the zoo was still operating.
1. Practical information
Dusit Zoo was the oldest zoo in Thailand and covered 188,800 m². Besides the zoo itself, the grounds housed an animal museum, an animal hospital and an education centre.
The zoo was located here:
Opening hours in 2014: 08:00–18:00. The zoo has been closed since 30 September 2018.
Ticket price in 2014: 70 baht for a child, 150 baht for an adult.
Official website: Dusit Zoo’s site at dusitzoo.org currently opens with a certificate error. A page about the zoo on the ZPO website survives, but it has not been updated since August 2018.
Where to go instead of Dusit Zoo (as of September 2026)
- The new zoo in Pathum Thani. It is being built in the Thanyaburi district (Khlong 6). It does not yet appear in the list of operating zoos on the ZPO website (checked in October 2026). According to The Thaiger of 15 August 2026, the first phase is 92.54% complete, the first free opening is planned for April 2027 and the full opening for early 2029. The dates have already slipped more than once (in 2023 the full opening was promised for 2028), so it is worth checking the news before you travel.
- Safari World — a private park in Bangkok that has been operating since 1988. It consists of two parts: Safari Park, which you drive through for about 8 km, and Marine Park. The official website currently does not publish a single-entry ticket price (it only sells an annual pass), and resellers’ figures differ, so check the cost at the moment of purchase.
- Khao Kheow Open Zoo — an open zoo run by the same organisation, ZPO, in the Si Racha district of Chonburi province, on the road from Bangkok to Pattaya; allow a full day. According to the zoo’s official price list (checked in September 2026), a ticket for a foreigner costs 350 baht, a child under 12 and shorter than 135 cm pays 120 baht, and bringing a car in costs 80 baht. It is open daily from 08:00 to 18:00 (according to ZPO’s official ticket service, checked in October 2026). There are swimming elephant shows (at 11:00 and 14:30 on weekdays, and at 11:00, 12:30 and 14:30 at weekends) and a penguin parade, but show times can change.
2. A walk around the zoo (from our 2014 article)
The zoo entrance is decorated with life-size animal figures:
I visited the zoo on a weekday morning — there were hardly any people, and it was a very peaceful place. The grounds are quite large, and interestingly the zoo is full of paths and little bridges, with different animals visible from different levels. You wander as if in a labyrinth, follow one path, come back, drop down to another — in short, it is a very pleasant and interesting place to walk around, and everything is beautifully done.
The first animals I came across were enormous giraffes. I had never seen any before, so I was simply stunned by their size — notice how small the zebras look next to them:
You could watch the giraffes from two levels: the first is down below, an ordinary path, and the second is up on a bridge. The bridge is positioned so that you are right at the level of the giraffes’ heads. Anyone who wanted to could feed them. I thought it was wonderful, especially for those travelling with children.
One of the bridges strung across the zoo:
There were several small children’s pools around the zoo — a pity the elephants and dolphins aren’t real:
Still, this is a zoo, so the animals are in cages (unlike, say, the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park), and sometimes you come across sad little faces like these:
The beauties — Bengal tigers. It must be hot for them in that heat:
Another tiger, only a completely harmless one — you could even have your photo taken hugging it:
Walking past the crocodile enclosures makes you feel a little uneasy:
One of the bridge crossings is styled as a huge tree — a simply stunning idea:
A Malayan sun bear posing for me:
A couple filming the bear on video. Honestly, it was rather nerve-racking to watch from the side: the whole time they were filming (a good 5–10 minutes) the bear paced restlessly to and fro along the edge of the drop, apparently desperate to leap straight across the river:
Here you can see that bridges run alongside the main paths, all the way around the zoo — this is the approach to the hippo enclosure:
And here is the hippo in person:
Huge, clumsy, and able to stay underwater for a very long time, just like that, with their eyes open:
In a separate building you could see various snakes, dangerous and otherwise.
The giant anaconda (green anaconda) is the largest snake in the world; its weight can reach 97 kg:
I don’t remember the name of this snake, but I do remember that it is venomous; it looks very much like a python:
The turtles look like toys, barely moving in the heat:
Such a sweet-looking kitty, peacefully asleep curled up in a ball:
You can’t tell from the photo, but this cat is actually about twice the size of an ordinary domestic cat. It is called a fishing cat and is unusual in that it swims well and catches fish.
And these little animals won my heart long ago, when I saw them on National Geographic and later in the film “Life of Pi” (which, by the way, I definitely recommend watching if you haven’t — an excellent film!)
I never thought I would see them in the flesh — meet the meerkats:
A sign by the enclosure warns that you must not throw anything at the meerkats, shout at them and so on. Apparently many people tried, hoping to see them stand up on their hind legs.
The information board about meerkats:
At the zoo I got the impression that there was simply nowhere to put the zebras — they were housed with the giraffes and with the ostriches. Why?
This ostrich refused point-blank to be fed and kept running away from the zookeeper.
Spotted deer:
There was also a separate penguin building, kept at a special temperature — in Thailand’s tropical climate they get rather hot:
Pink flamingos, with netting stretched above them so they can’t fly away:
And if you were tired of walking around the park, you could simply rest on a bench, looking out over the lake:
A mysterious path leading off into the distance:
The zoo left a very pleasant impression on me: beautifully designed, a large area, and interesting to wander around. It was handy that every enclosure had a sign with brief information about the animal duplicated in English — name, habitat, behaviour and so on.
There was also an attraction in the zoo — a dinosaur room. Entry was paid separately, but it cost only 10 baht at the time, so I went in to see what was so interesting. Inside it is quite dark, so photographs don’t come out. You walked along a path lined with moving dinosaur figures making all sorts of scary sounds. The interior is styled as the ancient world, with matching plants and decorations. Nothing especially interesting, really, but since you’ve come to the zoo anyway, why not pop in to see the dinosaurs?
Dusit Zoo no longer exists: with children it is better to choose Safari World in Bangkok itself, or to spend a whole day at Khao Kheow Open Zoo — and from spring 2027, to keep an eye on the opening of the new zoo in Pathum Thani.
