Dusit Zoo May Be Relocated To A Larger Area

[Jai Dee]

Natural Resources and Environment Minister supports plan to relocate Dusit Zoo to the suburb

The Natural Resources and Environment Minister agrees on the relocation of Dusit Zoo to the suburb, saying resistance should be minimal.

Mr. Kasem Sanidwongse Na Ayutthaya (เกษม สนิทวงศ์ ณ อยุธยา), Natural Resources and Environment Minister, has recently discussed with the Director of the Zoological Organization of Thailand regarding the plan to move the Dusit (ดุสิต) Zoo or Khao Din Wana (เขาดินวนา) to the suburb and renovate the area to a new public park as part of the project to commemorate His Majesty the King’s 80th birthday anniversary.

Mr. Kasem said that the Zoo should be moved to a bigger area because it is too small to be the national zoo, and also because the two zones in the zoo -- the animal display zone and the kids’ playing field -- must be clearly kept apart.

However, the relocation would require quite a detailed and time-consuming study. He noted that the project is not the policy of the government but only a proposal for the future. Therefore, the more urgent issue than the relocation is to improve the current operation of all zoos in Thailand.

As for the possible opposition on the relocation, Mr. Kasem said that the main purpose of the zoo is to promote wildlife conservation. Even when the Dusit Zoo is in the suburban area, teachers can still take students to visit. As long as it is located where transportation is convenient, Mr. Kasem said the resistance should not occur.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 20 Febuary 2007

[leisurely]

Good idea. I visited last year with my girls and would never go back. The animals were the most miserable bunch it has ever been my misfortune to see. The conditions they were being kept in were squalid. A crying shame.

[jasreeve17]

My first thoughts here are - how will they profit?

I hope that a lovely new park is created for the enjoyment of the local people living in the city, and at the same time the long suffering animals find a nice new home. Time will tell, but I'd imagine that even if a park does become a reality, that a decent size plot of land will be turned into condos too, and a few of the decission makers will have their bank ballances increased by several tens of millions of baht...

Maybe, I'm just a sceptical person, but I don't see concern for the animals welfare as entering the equation in any way, shape or form.

The association of the project with the topic that we can't discuss is window dressing in my opinion, and an example of the contempt that the profit mongers have for that unmentionable subject, should in time I be proved correct.

Dusit Heights Condo anybody? Should be available November 2011.