ScandAsia. Denmark News
Danish Tour Operator Boycotts Well Known Thai Tourist Attraction
07.07.2008 | news Bjarne Wildau
"The Tiger Temple"
in Thailand
is a major tourist attraction, but the story behind the project are based on
lies. The animals are imported to Thailand under the "highly
dubious circumstances" – That’s why the biggest Danish tour operator Billetkontoret
now boycott tiger temple, writes Take Off.
This week, the tour operator was strongly encouraged to stop several
visits to "The Tiger Temple" in Kachanburi, close to the River Kwai - northwest of Bangkok.
The advice to boycott the attraction came from Billetkontorets agent in Thailand
- the cause was an in-depth report by Care for the Wild International (CWI), which
in two years has researched "The Tiger Temple" and followed the daily routines.
The report indicates that the original story of the wild tigers has been raised
and domesticated among monks, in fact, covers the illegal import of the
animals from Laos under extremely dubious circumstances.
In light of this report, many foreign tour operators and tour operators with
immediate effect cancelled all visits to the tiger temple. Billetkontoret
follow this boycott as the first Danish tour operator.
"Who does not want to pat a tiger? The Tiger Temple is the story of a monk
who took care of one tiger, and then one more, and so on. The "Tiger Temple" was famous, because the Animal Planet made a television programme about
it. It looked very reliable and The Tiger Temple was a major attraction - but
after the report from the CWI, we must take responsibility as a tour operator. That’s
why we have chosen to remove The tiger temple from our program in Thailand,
"says Billetkontorets sales manager, Kasper Mydtskov to Take Off.
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A report indicates that the original story of the wild tigers has been raised and domesticated among monks, in fact, covers the illegal import of the animals from Laos under extremely dubious circumstances.
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Reader Comments:-
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Edwin J. Wiek :
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The WFFT (Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand) applauds the decision of Billetkontoret. This decision to stop visiting the tiger temple shows that it is possible to engage in Responsible Tourism within Thailand and is the first step towards the stop of exploitation of animals and wildlife in particular.
We thank you for caring about Thailand's wildlife.
Edwin Wiek
Director and Founder
Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand
www.wfft.org |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-07 12:05:06 |
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Brendan Jones :
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| I am so happy that tour operators are taking this situation seriously. I have for some time been upset at how the tigers were being treated. One one occasion I noticed that the number of tigers had decreased from 16 to 10 and that a cub mysteriously disappeared. no one could answer to where or what happened to him. A full boycott of this temple is needed and the WWF should remove all tigers from this temple for their safety |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-07 23:52:09 |
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Tigerfire :
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| Thai authorities seem powerless to do anything about the temple. They will only sit up when the cash stops flowing and the tourism sector takes a hit. A tourist boycott will reduce the cash flow to the temple and remove the incentives to keep the awful system in place, eventually leading to its dismantling. I applaud all those who boycott the temple. There should be a campaign for a major, worldwide boycott. |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-08 11:10:22 |
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Rungrote :
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This 's a good news.
Very good story...!$ |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-08 15:49:19 |
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bill :
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We have seen first hand how the tigers were being treated
ITS BAD so dont go |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-08 16:23:32 |
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Dave :
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Well done Billetkontoret!!! Thank you very much for putting ethic ahead of profit. It's shows that you are truly compassionate and a not just in business to make money.
Keep up the good work! |
| Posted Date: 2008-07-08 21:47:43 |
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suaisuai :
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Well, that's Thailand! If you know the country, then u know authorities are usually quite willingless to do anything substantial, let alone about some unimportant thing like wildlife or animal protection! And this is a buddhist temple, which means: untouchable...
I've been to the temple myself in 2004, before it was enlarged, and talked to the abbot, too. He showed me all the plans for his project, looked like a cheap amusement park to me - horrible... and: I was there with high-level Thais, who didnt have to pay anything... of course they donated some money, as good buddhists. But the monks made ME pay,,, as the only farang in the group! I already felt this is gonna be a major rip-off in the future. Glad to have seen it in its original form without any other tourists there, nowaday I'd never go back... |
| Posted Date: 2009-03-18 05:20:49 |
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paul vorsselmans :
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| i have no words for this because i lives in thailand ,suaisuai be right , i never be in this tempel because i never sponsor attraction with wild animals , just call WWFT and Edwin brings the animal where he belong ( in the nature ) |
| Posted Date: 2009-04-04 23:09:29 |
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Ann Petploy :
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as i am Thai and working in tourism industry, i am the one who will never trust or recommend tourist to visit this temple. They are not the temple but they are some group of people who just want to take your money. They know that you are hungry to pat and get close to such a wild animal like tiger... so, this it make more and more people wanted to go.
as we know,Temple (they claimed) bough (or took) land from local people there. at night people hear tiger screaming and none happy with this temple (maybe some).
By the original project, it was a very kind of Luang ta bua (former Monk there) to help a poor tiger but not anymore.
Please help to stop this dirty bizz. Thank you all. |
| Posted Date: 2009-11-22 02:48:17 |
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