Is Safari World Bangkok Worth It?

Yes, if you want to drive past a herd of more than 200 giraffes and spend the rest of the day at animal shows without leaving Bangkok: Safari World pairs an eight-kilometre drive-through with a Marine Park that stages seven shows a day. It is the wrong day out if orangutan boxing would spoil it for you, or if the safety failings found after lions killed a keeper in 2025 put you off, and then Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi, described as the second largest zoo in Asia, is the better choice in Thailand.

What not to miss at Safari World

Safari World opened in 1988 at 99 Panya Intra Road (Soi Ram Inthra 109), in Bangkok's Khlong Sam Wa district, and its open zoo alone covers 480 acres. A visit has two halves: Safari Park, which you see from a vehicle, and Marine Park, where the shows are.

Safari Park: the drive

Safari Park is the largest section, a 50-minute drive along an eight-kilometre route laid out like savanna. The sight you will remember is the herd of more than 200 Masai giraffes. Around them you pass Grant's zebras, black wildebeest, impalas, white rhinos, Ankole cattle, African buffaloes, gemsbok, hippos and ostriches.

The carnivores have their own drive-through sections, separated by gates: African lions, Bengal tigers, and Asiatic and American black bears. Stay in your vehicle the whole way. After the 2025 attack, Safari World reminded everyone not to leave vehicles during its open-zoo tours, particularly where the dangerous animals are. When the tiger zone reopened in October 2025, the park said its "safari feeding" activity, in which you feed tigers and hippos up close, would resume under improved safety protocols.

Featured location Safari World กรุงเทพมหานคร, Thailand It opened in 1988 with 480 acres of open zoo and a further 180 acres of bird park. From 17 April 1989 the site was reworked to make better use of the land, and it now comprises an open zoo and a marine park across 500 rai.

Marine Park: the shows

Marine Park runs seven shows a day at different times: dolphins, sea lions, elephants, birds, a cowboy stunt show, the Spy War show and orangutan boxing. With seven shows at different times on top of a 50-minute drive, pick the ones you want before you arrive and plan your route between them.

Between shows, Tiger Kingdom has enclosures for Bengal, white and Siberian tigers. In the Mini World walk-through aviary you can feed free-flying sun conures from your hand, and at the Safari Terrace you can feed giraffes bananas and leaves; the newer Jungle Walk area has a giraffe-feeding spot too. There is also a Jungle Cruise, and on the large lake you can rent a paddle-boat among mute swans and black swans.

Which to choose: Safari World or Khao Kheow

What changed after the 2025 lion attack

In September 2025 a Safari World keeper was killed by lions in front of tourists. Witnesses said at least three lions attacked him after he stepped out of his work vehicle in breach of safety regulations. Safari World said nothing like it had happened in over 40 years of operation.

What the inspections found is the part to weigh. An inspection found damaged fences, inadequate warning signs and too few CCTV cameras, and Thailand's Department of National Parks found overall animal welfare in the lion and tiger enclosures below 80% of the required standard. It told Safari World to shut the Safari Park area until further notice, while a Safari World representative said the rest of the zoo stayed open and safe. The five lions involved were confined to cages for monitoring.

With the department's approval, Safari World reopened the tiger zone in Safari Park on 13 October 2025, after what it described as a series of enhanced safety measures. That announcement named the tiger zone, so if the lions are the reason you are going, ask before you buy. Separately, the zoo's permit expired in October 2024, and in September 2025 CBS News reported that it was still awaiting renewal.

The shows are the sticking point

Safari World has been criticised for its treatment of animals, particularly orangutans and elephants, and for keeping lion and tiger cubs in cramped cages. CBS News calls it controversial for its staged shows featuring kickboxing orangutans and hula-hooping elephants. In a report published in April 2026, the news agency dpa described the orangutan boxing show: two orangutans in shorts and boxing gloves, egged on by entertainers. According to dpa, Safari World's website advertises the show as "pure entertainment", while animal rights groups including PETA urge visitors to avoid venues like Safari World that use animals for entertainment.

Khao Kheow Open Zoo: the bigger alternative

Khao Kheow opened to the public in 1978 and covers about 800 hectares, with more than 8,000 animals of more than 300 species. It sits at the foot of the Khao Khiao massif, at 235 Moo 7, Bang Phra, Sriracha, in Chonburi. In the Pink Zone you may drive your own car or rent a golf cart, while the Green Zone is closed to private cars, so there you walk, take the zoo's tram or use a cart. Its Night Safari zone is for exploring the zoo after sunset.

It is also home to Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo born on 10 July 2024. When the crowds came, the zoo brought in a five-minute time limit for visitors, and more than 12,000 fans turned up on 10 July 2025 for her first birthday. Khao Kheow has shows too, including an elephant show and a penguin parade.

If you had Bangkok's Dusit Zoo in mind as a third option, drop it: the Zoological Park Organization announced in August 2018 that it would close and relocate to a new site in Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani Province.

So which? Pick Safari World for giraffes at the car window and a full programme of shows inside Bangkok, and accept what those shows involve. Pick Khao Kheow if you would rather cover a much bigger zoo at your own pace, or if Moo Deng is the reason you came.

Best time to visit

Safari World opens Tuesday to Sunday and on public holidays, and closes every Monday. Its hours are 9am-4pm Tuesday to Friday and 9am-5pm at weekends. With a 50-minute drive and seven shows spread across the day, arrive at 9am, especially on a weekday, when you have seven hours rather than eight.

Khao Kheow opens from 8am to 5pm. Its weekday show schedule covers Monday to Friday, and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays add extra rounds: an elephant show at 12:30pm and a penguin parade at 3:30pm.

Plan around the weather. Bangkok is hot all year, from an average low of 23.2°C in December to an average high of 35.7°C in April. The rainy season starts around mid-May and lasts until October, with September the wettest month, and the cool, dry season then runs until February. That makes November to February the most comfortable window for a long day at either park.

Thai public schools run their first semester from mid-May to late September or early October, and their second from late October or early November to late February or early March. The gaps between terms are when local children are free to visit on weekdays too.

Tickets and saving money

The paddle-boats on the lake are a rental on top of your visit.

Khao Kheow charges 350 baht for adults and 120 baht for children, as of September 2026, and the price includes all of its free shows. If you arrive without a car, a golf cart costs 500 baht for two hours for up to four people, or 700 baht for two hours for up to six. Split four ways, the smaller cart adds 125 baht each.

Other wildlife nearby

If you would rather see animals that are not performing, Khao Yai, established on 18 September 1962, was Thailand's first national park, and in 2005 it became part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex. Wild Asian elephants live there, along with gibbons, pig-tailed macaques, muntjacs and sambar deer.