Safari World Bangkok Review : Why you may REGRET for GOING

Safari World Bangkok is one of the most recommended attractions for a day tour. BUT you should check out our full review to avoid a REGRETTABLE experience!

Disclaimer ahead, I have been to Safari World Bangkok as part of my wider Bangkok itinerary. I noted that most of the online agency companies have day tour packages for Bangkok Safari World including buffet and transportation. I also booked my visit via Klook for a day.

So did I regret joining?

Well, no or yes. No for the fact that the price for the tour is reasonable and there are a lot of positive experiences in the Safari. Yes for the fact that there are parts of the attractions associated with potential animal cruelty, especially the “Orangutan Show”.

While the reviews on TripAdvisor could also be mixed, some giving 5 stars while some giving 1 star. Thus, I am writing this Safari World Bangkok blog post to provide the facts and considerations points for your decision.

What is Safari World Bangkok?

Founded in 1988, the Safari World Bangkok is the largest open zoo in Bangkok. It is also the first and only entertainment park listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). So it’s been there for over 30 years.

It has two major parks the Safari Park and the Marine Park. The safari section is over 400 acres containing hundreds of species including gemsboks, hippos, ostriches, lions, tigers, giraffes, etc. It is a drive-thru session for around 40 minutes.

The Marine Park has multiple animal exhibits such as crocodiles, cheetahs, lemurs, rodents, and llamas. Other than that there is also a notable exhibition center of the session called Egg Island where it displays eggs of various bird species.

Other than that, Marine Park also has multiple animal shows each day for visitors. This is the part we need to evaluate before going. I will cover more in the later session.

Bangkok Safari World Map

The above map shows the attractions at both Safari Park and Marine Park. On top of that, it also contains the coach timetable for the Safari Park and the icons of animals along the route.

Safari World and Marine Park Bangkok ticket price

The admission tickets for both Safari Park and Marine Park are available on the official site.  Other than that, it is also available for purchase. It costs 1,000 THB (~ 27.7 USD) for Safari Park admission and 1,300 THB (~ 36 USD) for Marine Park admission respectively for adults. The combo would be THB 1,500 (~ 41.6 USD).  The price does not include the 100 THB for coach service at Safari Park if you are not driving or taking any local tour.

If you decide to go for the safari. You shall buy the combo ticket for savings. Besides, buying the package from an online travel agency like Klook is in general cheaper.

Additionally, the tour operators are good at time management, helping you to avoid traffic in Bangkok while ensuring sufficient time for the visit.

Safari World Bangkok Full Review

There are three main parts to the experience in Safari World Bangkok, namely the Safari Park, Marine Park attractions, and Marine Park animal shows.

I will provide a review for each of the three parts in chronicle order.

1. Safari World Bangkok Review: Safari Park

The local operators usually arrange the safari park in the morning around 9 am (the earliest drive is at 9:30 am if you are going there on your own). Starting from the entrance you will see different animals from Asia and Africa including zebras, camels, ostriches, and different kinds of deer such as sambar deer, Indian hog deer, Fallow deer, and gemsbok. Other than that you will also encounter various kinds of large free-flying water birds. Interestingly, those birds even build large nests on trees (I wonder how they do that). You will also see rhinos and giraffes in this area.

Around 15 minutes, you will enter the carnivores areas. Here you will see different kinds of carnivores including tigers, lions, and bears.

Despite the name of “Safari”, the experience is more like a large open zoo than a real safari. Although the park gathered a large variety of animals, it would not give you a safari experience like Africa. For some elementary safari experience, feel free to check out my other blog post for game reserve in Cape Town.

However, based on the price and experience (1,100 THB ~ 30 USD for standard pricing with no discount), it is quite a good value option. The animals look fine in the areas and you can even see the bears chilling and sleeping.

2. Safari World Bangkok Review: Marine Park attractions

From the marine park map, you can easily locate each of the animal exhibits, attractions, restaurants, and animal shows. We will leave the animal shows in the next part.

Animal location & feeding

For the animal exhibit and attractions, you can encounter different animals from birds like flamingoes and Indian hornbill, mammals like kangaroos, llamas, camels, lemurs, and meerkats, and marine animals like hippos, sea lions, and spurred tortoises.

So again the name “marine” is a bit misleading. Apart from just watching, there are several animals you can feed with extra cost such as camels, kangaroos, sun conures, etc. Amongst them, the Treehouse where you can buy a cone to feed (100 THB (~3 USD) ) hundreds of free-flying sun conures are very popular for kids and families.

Egg World

Other than that there is an indoor exhibition called Egg World near the elephant show. It is an egg incubation center for different kinds of birds. From there you can even witness the hatching of birds at different stages. Remember do not take photos with flash inside.

The best giraffe encouter experience

Lastly, the best part of the whole safari world in Bangkok is the “Giraffe Terrace”.  This is the area where you can feed the giraffes on a spacious terrace. Even if you are not paying to feed, you can also sit on the bench of the terrace being around with the giraffes at a close distance.

There are over 20 giraffes in the area and this is probably the most (and the closest) giraffe experience you can have in the world.

3. Safari World Bangkok Review: Marine Park animal shows – it would make you REGRET

Animal shows have been the main gimmicks of Safari World. 7 shows are running daily in the park according to the schedule, some would repeat. The 5 animal shows include Orangutan boxing, elephant, dolphin, sea lion, and bird show, and the remaining two (cowboy stunt and spy war) are non-animal shows.  

While the two non-animal shows are okay, you may find the animal shows disguising. I love animals. I love seeing them in the wild as part of the nature. While, I am not absolutely opposed to animal zoos, as long as animals are being treated right with good living conditions and fed right, it is still acceptable.

Of course, people have different standards. Whether it is deemed ethical or not, you shall use your own discretion. All I want to do is to give you the right expectations before you go.

Orangutan boxing show

Although it is the most featured and first show in the Safari, it is also the most controversial one. If you search online with the keyword “animal cruelty Bangkok Safari World”, you can find several news against the boxing show. The latest one includes Halle Bailey (Ariel in The Little Mermaid 2023) being slammed for going there.

The Orangutan Boxing shows it is a comedy show with around 8 to 10 Orangutans. Other than boxing each other, the orangutans have to perform entertainment such as dancing in bikinis, trash throwing, or playing instruments. Due to the comedy nature, the whole show contains a lot of dirty jokes.

On the other hand, the introduction from the official website below seems to be very encouraging. Although it says suitable for visitors of any age, I doubt if you would like to see your children enjoying the show.

“

The Orangutan Show at Safari World Thailand is a captivating and entertaining experience that offers visitors a chance to get fascinated by the intelligence and humor of these amazing primates. The show exhibits highly trained orangutans portraying their incredible abilities, such as painting, dancing, and even playing basketball. The orangutans’ playful and mischievous behavior is sure to captivate visitors of all ages and their intelligence and problem-solving skills add valuable insights about their behavior and characteristics.

“

Extracted from official website of Safari World Bangkok

This show makes me feel sick and pretty depressed for the rest of the day. You have no idea about the process of training the orangutans. It seems that the safari has never been disclosed.  I found another blog post featuring the details (or nightmare) of the show. You shall take a look before your trip to the Safari World.

Elephant show

The elephant show is “slightly better” than the Orangutan show. It has the elephants doing tricks like riding each other, kicking football, and water splashing. It does not have dirty jokes like the one in Orangutan and the elephants seem to be rewarded with bananas. However, seeing the elephants chained at ankles and the facilitators carrying a long stick with a hook at the end made me feel uncomfortable.

Dolphin show

The dolphin show involves having the trained dolphins perform tricks like ring-jumping, fetching, and swimming with the facilitators. Just my personal opinion, this part seems to be less associated with animal cruelty. The dolphins are rewarded immediately with fish for each performance and seem to be happy.

The only parts that seem to be cruel and unreasonable are when they are asked to jump extra height and have to carry the facilitators with their noses.

Sea Lion Show

The sea lion show is very similar to those we would see across the world. The sea lions are rewarded with fish for each performance like picking up a ball. It seems to be pretty common compared to other attraction parks across the world.

Bird show

The bird show involves having the birds assemble an English phrase, instructing an eagle to pick up a money note from a selected tourist and carrots to “speak”. The performance seems to be pretty mild and the birds seem to be trained to reward the pain.

Where to eat in Bangkok Safari World

There are several restaurants available in the marine park at the waterside food court. They offer common Thai cuisines such as boat noodles, salad, and pork rice. Other than that, there are also food booths such as Tiger Burger selling fast food and beverages like coconuts.

The price is in general higher than flea markets in the City center but is still reasonable at around 300 THB (~ 8 USD) per cuisine.

There are also two buffet restaurants in the park namely Aviary and Savanna.

Safari World Bangkok buffet review

The buffet restaurants are located near the Jungle Cruise, Aviary serves an international buffet while Savanna serves an Indian buffet.  They are open at noon and end at around 2:30 PM.

Both buffets serve very basic dishes according to their themes. For example, you could expect salad, rice, fried vegetables, ice cream, noodles, and some chicken from the international buffet. And beans, curry chickens, samosas and fruits in the Indian one. It is definitely not what you would expect in a high-quality or hotel buffet.

However, it is still relatively reasonable given you only need to top-up ~ 3 / 4 USD for adding a buffet to your day tour package.

I prefer the international buffet given it offers salad, fruits, and chicken thighs forming a good nutrition balance. Plus, it is less oily compared to the Indian one and there is no naan in Savannah.

How to get to Bangkok Safari World

There are multiple ways to get to Bangkok Safari World. If you are taking the day tour with transportation arranged, it is already handled. Besides, the local operators are very good at timing to avoid the traffic of Bangkok’s city center. The only drawback if you will need to leave the park at 4:40 PM after the bird show. However, there shall be more than enough time.

Another recommended way is to get there by Grab which would cost around 400 THB (~ 11 USD).

Alternatively, you can also take public transport there. You may check out this blog post for the details. Please note that there is no railway directly going to Bangkok Safari World, so it may take a lot of your valuable annual leave time to get there.

So, Should you go there?

So after the full review on Safari World Bangkok, should you go there?

Me, if I had known all the information above, probably I would still go on the safari. After all, it is quite a different experience standing out from Bangkok compared to the shopping, wat-visit and markets. Furthermore, the giraffe experience is probably the only place you can have in the world.

However, I will refrain from going to the animal shows or at the very least not the Orangutan boxing show and Elephant show. I would say the animal shows could make you regret going.

I hope you can make a well-informed decision and wish you a wonderful journey in Thailand.

Please leave me a comment with your inquiry or your personal experience!