Future of Dusit Zoo to be considered next week

Future of Dusit Zoo to be considered next week

Visitors relax in paddle boats at Dusit Zoo, with the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in the background, in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Visitors relax in paddle boats at Dusit Zoo, with the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall in the background, in Bangkok on Tuesday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)

The Board of Zoological Park Organisation will meet next Tuesday to consider if the 79-year-old Dusit Zoo should be relocated from its present site opposite the parliament in Bangkok.

Deputy director-general Suriya Saengpong said on Thursday the meeting would set a clear direction for the zoo. He declined to comment on speculation it would be moved to adjoining Pathum Thani province, to the north.

Recently, His Majesty the King gave about 300 rai of land in Pathum Thani to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to build a new zoo and new offices for the Zoological Park Organisation, which is currently housed at Dusit Zoo.

Dusit was the first public zoo in Thailand, and is the best known. It opened to the public on March 18, 1938.

The zoo covers about 100 rai. It welcomes about 2 million visitors each year, collecting about 120 million baht in admission fees.

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