What really happened at Thailand's Tiger Temple?

[webfact]

What really happened at Thailand's Tiger Temple?
by Adam Ramsey

Caretakers of the 137 tigers removed from the Tiger Temple fear they will face a worse fate in government hands

Kanchanaburi, Thailand - Tucked away among the swelling vistas of west Thailand's Kanchanaburi province, Tanya Erzinclioglu paced around the periphery of Pha Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno temple with her colleagues. Every now and again, she anxiously glanced at her phone, taking calls or checking for updates.

"I have no idea what's happening," she said repeatedly to herself.

Tanya's mornings typically involved being inside the temple grounds where she helped feed and observe some 137 tigers who were under her partial care. It had been her routine for six years and, from the passion with which she speaks about it, it seems to be where her heart lies.

But on the morning of Monday, May 30, more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police were waiting patiently outside the main entrance to the place better known as Thailand's 'Tiger Temple'.

Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/06/happened-thailand-tiger-temple-160605074332073.html

-- AL JAZEERA 2016-06-06

[Thian]

It must be the safest place in Thailand right now with 500!! officers all around the temple.

500? I guess the added another zero to that. 50 sounds more than enough

[ourmanflint]

What did they give to the Tigers to make them so docile? Anyone know?

[Bluespunk]

"I have no idea what's happening," she said repeatedly to herself"

So what's new?

[leeneeds]

Passion about keeping the tigers

senses dulled?

any insider working there,

if they had the welfare of the tigers at heart

surely would have done all they could to undermine what was

going on inside the complex on a daily basis.

This has always been about the human need

for money and greed, and more MONEY!

[jaidam]

I can't help but think, could these 137 tigers help in any way to flush out the occupants of a certain tit shaped temple? I would love to see it - shades of the Romans.

[ezzra]

" more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police "

that's how thing are happening in this country,

either nobody gives a damn, or, when the shit hit the fan, you have every dick tom and Somchai

from all government branches on the scenes and all doing the same thing and clueless as what

to do next..... anyway, no need for Menza club to figure out what to do with the tigers, release any

animal that was captured back to the wild, and those who were born in captivity, initiate a program

to slowly introduce them to living in the wild again under the government supervision and care......

[eeeya]

sell therm to rich saudi playboys

[shirtless]

Thais need to realize that religion is about money, how can these monks get away with being so cruel.

[colinneil]

Monks being cruel, monks only interested in making MONEY.

Monks do not care about animals, they only care about makingMONEY.

Monks can do anything, whatever they want, and the authorities are scared to touch them.

[The stuttering parrot]

Tanya eh!

I urge you all to google her and her Facebook page comes up.

When the first raid came she's actually blaming the authorities for causing stress to the Tigers upon their refuse and that the other facilities to house the Tigers are below the standards of the tiger temple but she is now shocked on what was discovered.

I have no idea what's happening she repeats or she was so naive she says.

Can't understand why after all the studied animal animation at arts university Bournemouth she surely must make her an expert in veterinary field specialising in tigers and other big cats.

How's does one get a gig at the tiger temple for 6 years without qualifications ?

She now is shocked and should have been the moment she stepped foot in the joint!

Oh by the way she has a link which you can google titled save the tigers of the tiger temple.

Strange they were so vocal defending the temple until May 29th then nothing.

Maybe they have bolted to.

Edited June 6, 2016 by The stuttering parrot

[MaxLee]

Just a typical day in Thailand, where the small fry will take the blame and the real kingpins will get smuggled bailed out of Thailand for a while,....

[DaveinAsia]

What did they give to the Tigers to make them so docile? Anyone know?

Obviously it was some kind of tranquillizer. Could be chemical or herbal. No idea, but for sure they were getting something. How else could people come so near them? They are wild animals after all, even if bred in captivity. Especially with the amount of inbreeding going on inside this temple those tigers should be much more aggressive, which they weren't.

All the so-called 'caretakers' haven't got clean hands and must of been aware of what was going on. How on earth can the Thai management/bosses keep such a tight lid on such a huge illegal operation? Impossible! Management, owner(s), monks, caretakers and even visitors should all be held accountable for helping this freak show to continue for so long.

Never been, never going, not even to zoos. Animals kept in captivity to entertain humans is one of the lowest kinds of human behaviour

[oldlakey]

Tanya eh!

I urge you all to google her and her Facebook page comes up.

When the first raid came she's actually blaming the authorities for causing stress to the Tigers upon their refuse and that the other facilities to house the Tigers are below the standards of the tiger temple but she is now shocked on what was discovered.

I have no idea what's happening she repeats or she was so naive she says.

Can't understand why after all the studied animal animation at arts university Bournemouth she surely must make her an expert in veterinary field specialising in tigers and other big cats.

How's does one get a gig at the tiger temple for 6 years without qualifications ?

She now is shocked and should have been the moment she stepped foot in the joint!

Oh by the way she has a link which you can google titled save the tigers of the tiger temple.

Strange they were so vocal defending the temple until May 29th then nothing.

Maybe they have bolted to.

Maybe they have located their misplaced medication

[DLock]

"Caretakers of the 137 tigers removed from the Tiger Temple fear they will face a worse fate in government hands"

What, worse than all those dead kittens and skinned tigers?

How could it be worse?

[chainarong]

What really happened, firstly the local government never issued a permit to hold wild animals in their area , the weekly inspections by the parks and wildlife vet ( who did eventually issue a permit ) didn't happen, the prevention against cruelty to animals Org , didn't pay a visit, and no tourist complained, the only one who did threaten with legal action was Edwin ( animal rights ) and the belief that a place of religion is sacrosanct, which is B/S, just look at the time under Thaksin when they shot the sh!!ter out of Muslims seeking refuge in their mosque...........................

[klauskunkel]

What really happened at Thailand's Tiger Temple?

What happened is what always happens:

The abbot ran way a few days before the raid and (quote): "By the second day of the temple raid, the majority of monks had already left."

and that's the reality, criminals run, whether monk or Prime Minister, they put on their Nikes and run, Forest, run!

Edited June 6, 2016 by klauskunkel

[Eric Loh]

I hope the probe do not end here. Shake the tree and you find that the temple could not have flourished for so long without the protection of the same people who raided the place.

[nakhonandy]

Well talk about a news media getting the facts correct and not being a tad biased.

Does anybody really believe that these caring people knew nothing of this? They were at least complicit in it, maybe acting out of a misplaced belief they were helping the Tigers that were allowed to live, it would be impossible to hide such a large scale operation from the people working there.

From the article it sounds like this Tanya is trying to garner sympathy for herself under the guise of only caring for the Tigers.

Why were any of the monks allowed to leave? Policing at its worst. They have the place cordoned off haven't they?

I really hope all involved get hammered but I won't hold my breath.

[luckyman]

" more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police "

that's how thing are happening in this country,

either nobody gives a damn, or, when the shit hit the fan, you have every dick tom and Somchai

from all government branches on the scenes and all doing the same thing and clueless as what

to do next..... anyway, no need for Menza club to figure out what to do with the tigers, release any

animal that was captured back to the wild, and those who were born in captivity, initiate a program

to slowly introduce them to living in the wild again under the government supervision and care......

They wont make it longer than a few days....tigers being held captive by or

born with humans donot stand a chance in the wild. Thats what charities and tv shows want you to believe. Same goes for most animals, like monkeys, bears and elephants too....unfortunately.

[luckyman]

What really happened? Ask Edwin Wiek from wfft, he is been fighting these monks for ages and even got arrested for it !!!

Only because he wanted to expose the temple 6 years ago for what they now appeared to be doing with local government approval. It is because of the Army took over that slowly their walls of protection came tumbling down.

One of the most disgusting tourist operations is now finally being shut down, more than 10 years too late.

God only knows how many tigers have parished in that period. Taksin, Abbhisit and Yingluck all did NOTHING.

[allan michaud]

" more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police "

that's how thing are happening in this country,

either nobody gives a damn, or, when the shit hit the fan, you have every dick tom and Somchai

from all government branches on the scenes and all doing the same thing and clueless as what

to do next..... anyway, no need for Menza club to figure out what to do with the tigers, release any

animal that was captured back to the wild, and those who were born in captivity, initiate a program

to slowly introduce them to living in the wild again under the government supervision and care......

You can't release any of them, they will all die of starvation or attack people (only easy prey) and be killed. None are wild, they have been breeding them for many years. It's bloody expensive to feed them btw, they need upwards of 5kg of meat per day. The rescue center here in Cambodia fell out with an NGO that was supporting the tigers and elephants and were so desperate they were feeding them rats, so the govt people had to apologise and ask the NGO to come back.

What is so sad about this is it has all been done in plain sight and this place should have been shut a decade or more ago.

[boomerangutang]

What did they give to the Tigers to make them so docile? Anyone know?

Obviously it was some kind of tranquillizer. Could be chemical or herbal. No idea, but for sure they were getting something. How else could people come so near them? They are wild animals after all, even if bred in captivity. Especially with the amount of inbreeding going on inside this temple those tigers should be much more aggressive, which they weren't.

All the so-called 'caretakers' haven't got clean hands and must of been aware of what was going on. How on earth can the Thai management/bosses keep such a tight lid on such a huge illegal operation? Impossible! Management, owner(s), monks, caretakers and even visitors should all be held accountable for helping this freak show to continue for so long.

Never been, never going, not even to zoos. Animals kept in captivity to entertain humans is one of the lowest kinds of human behaviour

I went once to a tiger petting place north of Chiang Mai. I honestly didn't want to go, but my g.f. at the time insisted. After the obligatory selfies, she and I strolled off the beaten track within the compound. We saw 3 Thai young men in a cage with 3 cubs. They were teaching the cubs not to respond aggressively. They would poke and joke with the tiger cub, and if it snarled, they would smack it on the nose with a chop stick. Over and over, they were breaking the cubs' natural reaction, forcing them to be docile when annoyed. It sucked.

[honu]

This was an article by a volunteer that started there and left right away because of poor conditions, which mentions a few other issues that aren't coming up in the news related to animal treatment issues (eg. overfeeding baby tigers so tourists can have a turn at bottle feeding).

The main issue missing here he seemed to not have any insight about, what drugs they were giving the tigers that allowed people to take pictures with animals that should have been inclined to kill them just due to their inherent natures.

Another main concern that conservation groups always brought up isn't getting mentioned either: these tigers were being illegally bred between different sub-species of tigers, so was never a true conservation effort related to preserving existing animal species, aside from abuse and body parts sales issues.

http://matadornetwork.com/change/7-reasons-think-twice-visiting-thailands-tiger-temple/

[12DrinkMore]

" more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police "

that's how thing are happening in this country,

either nobody gives a damn, or, when the shit hit the fan, you have every dick tom and Somchai

from all government branches on the scenes and all doing the same thing and clueless as what

to do next..... anyway, no need for Menza club to figure out what to do with the tigers, release any

animal that was captured back to the wild, and those who were born in captivity, initiate a program

to slowly introduce them to living in the wild again under the government supervision and care......

You can't release any of them, they will all die of starvation or attack people (only easy prey) and be killed. None are wild, they have been breeding them for many years. It's bloody expensive to feed them btw, they need upwards of 5kg of meat per day. The rescue center here in Cambodia fell out with an NGO that was supporting the tigers and elephants and were so desperate they were feeding them rats, so the govt people had to apologise and ask the NGO to come back.

What is so sad about this is it has all been done in plain sight and this place should have been shut a decade or more ago.

5Kg every day?

Great.

Solve two problems at a stroke.

Feed them soi dogs.

[dageurreotype]

What really happened? Ask Edwin Wiek from wfft, he is been fighting these monks for ages and even got arrested for it !!!

Only because he wanted to expose the temple 6 years ago for what they now appeared to be doing with local government approval. It is because of the Army took over that slowly their walls of protection came tumbling down.

One of the most disgusting tourist operations is now finally being shut down, more than 10 years too late.

God only knows how many tigers have parished in that period. Taksin, Abbhisit and Yingluck all did NOTHING.

Agree. Doubt this abomination would have been fully exposed under any previous admin. In fact Taksin was planning to have them and other exotic wildlife on the menu at the restaurant of one of his vanity projects - the Chiang Mai Zoo at the instigation of that POS Plodsaprop. If the junta's done nothing else, this excuse for a human being was chucked out along with Barbie. And some want that rabble back? Hell with the lot of them

[dageurreotype]

"Caretakers of the 137 tigers removed from the Tiger Temple fear they will face a worse fate in government hands"

What, worse than all those dead kittens and skinned tigers?

How could it be worse?

Although agree with your post, there is reason to remain vigilant, given the parlous state of other 'government animal welfare' facilities. But I don't see Edwin Wiek bowing out any time soon. These tigers need a PAWS type admin in that it would be overseen by non Thais. Sorry to say.

[Mook23]

" more than 500 officers, wildlife officials, vets and police "

that's how thing are happening in this country,

either nobody gives a damn, or, when the shit hit the fan, you have every dick tom and Somchai

from all government branches on the scenes and all doing the same thing and clueless as what

to do next..... anyway, no need for Menza club to figure out what to do with the tigers, release any

animal that was captured back to the wild, and those who were born in captivity, initiate a program

to slowly introduce them to living in the wild again under the government supervision and care......

They wont make it longer than a few days....tigers being held captive by or

born with humans donot stand a chance in the wild. Thats what charities and tv shows want you to believe. Same goes for most animals, like monkeys, bears and elephants too....unfortunately.

True. A bit like most farangs not making it in the wild known as Thailand. 555

[ujayujay]

Monks being cruel, monks only interested in making MONEY.

Monks do not care about animals, they only care about makingMONEY.

Monks can do anything, whatever they want, and the authorities are scared to touch them.

What .... Thailand would be better without Buddhism or what does your comment?

[connda]

The myth was separated from the reality. Ah-oh.