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Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm
The Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm is probably the
largest crocodile farm in the world and draws visitors
and wildlife lovers from all over the world. There are
an astounding 60,000 crocodiles in this park, making it
quite a haven for researchers, wildlife lovers and
tourists who wish to get a deeper insight into how the
animals are kept and bred in captivity. The crocodile
farm is also host to the largest crocodile in captivity
- a fact reiterated by the Guinness Book of World
Records. 'Jao Yai' the crocodile, in question is
a hybrid crocodile; he is 6 meters in length, and weighs
1114.27 kilograms.
The Crocodile Farm offers daily
entertaining shows with
that of a trainer playing about with live crocodiles,
and handling these huge creatures with bare hands - much
to the amazement of the tourists. They might even
perform the risky and courageous act of sticking their
head into the crocodile’s wide opened mouth. For those
who also want to see some other wild animals in action,
there is a small zoo with road shows that has trained
elephants and monkeys to do some amazing stunts. The zoo
is also host to various other animals such as gibbons,
turtles, tigers, chimpanzees, and many other interesting
wildlife animals. There is even a
Dinosaur Museum which shows models and skeletons
of 13 varieties of dinosaurs, apart from a slide
presentation on prehistoric animals and evolution of
man.
History
The
Samut Prakan Crocodile Farm is at a three
kilometers distance from the township of Samut Prakan.
With the establishment of the Samut Prakan Crocodile
Farm, captive breeding and active interest in the
re-growth of the depleting number of crocodiles in
Thailand was revived. In the year 1960 alone, the farm
produced 150 hatchlings. The number of crocodiles in
this farm has now grown to 60,000
crocodiles making it the largest in the world. It
has been observed that the success of Samut Prakan and
its captive commercial breeding of crocodiles has been
much publicized leading to many such successful ventures
around the globe.
In this park, a proper environment is created and
nurtured for the crocodiles to multiply freely and
healthily. An expansive concrete surface lines the pond,
where the crocodiles reside. The farm has been able to
garner international recognition with one of its inmates
supposedly the largest in captivity crocodile ever
recorded; this has been lent credence by the Guinness
book of world records too.
Important information
The farm is open from 7am to 6 pm; entry fee here is 300
baht. Shows are hourly from 9am-5pm, except for noon;
you might also want to see the additional shows at 12pm
and 5pm on holidays. The Feeding time for the animals is
4:30pm -5:30pm.
Samut Prakan, also known as Paknam is located at the
mouth of the
Chao Phraya River. The town is only 25km
south of Bangkok and easily frequented by
air-conditioned buses on line 7, 8, and 11.
So the next time you are in Bangkok catch a piece of
action and join a wrestling race with the jumbo
crocodiles or simply click away for some excellent
pictures you can take back home.
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