Thailand’s elephant and tiger attractions have run out of money, say operators

He also urged authorities to develop sustainable-crop projects to feed tigers and elephants.

The managing director of Khum Sue Trakarn, which operates two Tiger Kingdoms in Chiang Mai and one in Phuket, said their income had dropped from almost 1 million baht per day pre-Covid to zero over the past two years.

“The company still has to bear the burden of feeding and housing the existing 220 tigers,” Kochakorn Chaibutr said. “We used to have about 400 employees but now only 30 per cent of the workforce is left. The company still needs working capital for expenses of 4-5 million baht per month. Kochakorn called on the government to find a financial institution that would loan money to his company.

Wittaya Phongsiri, owner of the Lanna Kingdom Elephant Sanctuary in Chiang Mai’s Mae Taeng district, said elephant attractions in the northern province have suffered for the past two…