Chiang Mai Zoo with kids - A wonderful drive-thru experience

Just as I was trying to start this post, my big girl walked past me, saw the caption and commented,” Oh! I liked this place!” In fact, visiting the Chiang Mai Zoo was the highlight for the kids.

I must first qualify that my kids love to visit the zoo, and they are suckers for feeding the animal. After visiting temples and museums for days, they were happy to go to the zoo!

It Is A Drive-Thru Zoo!

As the parents of 2 tweens and 2 tots (including an unwell one), we were the happiest when we realised that Chiang Mai Zoo is actually a drive-thru zoo!

Chiang Mai Zoo is located at Doi Suthep-Pui foothill, just 4 km from downtown Chiang Mai. Covering 200 acres of land, walking up and down the steep hills within the Chiang Mai Zoo with kids can be quite challenging with young kids tagging along.

While we saw brave parents pushing their strollers up and down the slopes, there are also options to rent a golf cart or take the panorama bus.

Click here for a map of the zoo and options for mode of transport within the premise.

Highlights of Our Trip

Sharing the photos of our highlights below, which are mainly feeding the animals. There are stalls selling animal feeds, such as carrots, beans and meat.

We frequented the Singapore Zoo this year, but feeding opportunity was limited to a few animals at particular timings. At the Chiang Mai Zoo, we were happy with the variety of animals we got to feed and not limited to any particular time of the day. Each basket of vegetables cost about THB20.

It was a close-up experience with our favourite giraffes, especially for our tots who love crafts and clothes related to the towering animal.

Another of our favourite – the hippopotamus, and the nearby stall owner gave us a generous amount of vegetables to feed the animals.

We did not expect to feed a carnivorous animal at all. And here we were, feeding a black panther. The two black cats saw us with a piece of meat, approached us with its snarling eyes and started growling. It was quite an experience for all of us.

An elephant session in the Chiang Mai Zoo with kids is a must! There was no one else at the elephant exhibit. The elephant saw us from far and made its way in a slow and lumbering fashion towards us or most probably his snack.

Our Review of the Chiang Mai Zoo

We love our experience! Especially since we could drive around, fed the animals and kept everyone happy.

We entered the zoo at noontime and ended around 4 pm without entering the aquarium, which some visitors said is actually the key attraction to the zoo.

The panda enclosure is not worth paying the extra to visit. We saw one out of two pandas, probably sleeping on the rock and the other nowhere to be found.

The exhibits in nearer to the entrance were well-maintained. However, as we moved inwards, the condition of each enclosure looked worse. Especially towards the end of the reptile and turtle section, some of the enclosures were empty with grass overgrown with weeds.

I reckon family with kids will find it worthwhile to visit the zoo. But if you are passionate about animal welfare, the conditions of the animals’ living places may irk you.

If you are keen to visit the Chiang Mai Zoo, get your tickets from Klook here*.