Khao Kheow Open Zoo Ticket — With Private Vehicle That Drives Every Zone
Last updated: 2026-08-06
Khao Kheow Open Zoo covers 800 hectares — 1,976 acres — of forested Chonburi hillside, holds more than 8,000 animals across over 300 species, and is the second-largest zoo in Asia. Those numbers sound like marketing until you are standing at the entrance in the middle of the afternoon realising the Cats Complex alone is 40 acres and it is a very long way uphill. The zoo is genuinely magnificent and genuinely exhausting, and which of those two you remember depends almost entirely on how you move around inside it.
The zoo opened to the public in 1978 after Bangkok's Dusit Zoo ran out of room, and it was designed from the beginning as an open-range facility: giraffes, zebras, Eld's deer and antelope range across wide hillside paddocks with ditches and level changes instead of bars. You are not looking at animals through mesh. You are looking across a valley at a herd. That design is also why it is spread across so much ground — and why the zoo is divided into colour-coded zones, of which the Pink zone has no tram service whatsoever and can only be reached by private car or rented golf cart.
We sell the entry ticket at ฿350 for adults and ฿200 for children, and a private vehicle at ฿3,000 flat for the whole group from Pattaya (฿3,500 by van from Bangkok). The vehicle is the part that matters. Your driver pays the vehicle entry fee, drives in through the gate with you, and stays with you all day — so the zoo becomes something you drive around in air conditioning, stopping where you like, rather than something you walk across in the Chonburi heat hoping the next tram comes soon.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo Ticket Price 2026
Package Deals — Best Value
Khao Kheow Open Zoo Entry Ticket
Zoo entry for one person, valid all day, with access to every zone and all scheduled animal presentations at no extra charge. Confirmed before you travel so you are not queuing at the ticket window. Children under 90 cm enter free; children 90–135 cm pay the child rate; over 135 cm pays adult.
Per person. Child (90–135 cm) ฿200. Entry alone does not solve getting around the zoo — see the private vehicle below, which is what most families actually need here.
Khao Kheow Open Zoo Ticket — With Private Vehicle That Drives Every Zone
Asia's second-largest zoo — 800 hectares, 8,000 animals, 300 species. Entry from ฿350 per person. Add a private vehicle — ฿3,000 from Pattaya or ฿3,500 by van from Bangkok — that stays with you all day and drives the zones most visitors never reach.
Highlights:
- Asia's second-largest zoo — 800 hectares, 8,000+ animals across 300+ species — for a state-zoo entry price of ฿350.
- Your private vehicle drives INSIDE the grounds and stays with you all day, so the 1,976-acre park stops being a walking problem in 34°C heat.
- Reach the Pink zone and the 40-acre Cats Complex, which have no tram service at all and which most visitors never see.
- Open-range design — giraffes, zebras and Eld's deer across hillside paddocks rather than behind bars, plus the elevated giraffe feeding platform.
- ฿3,000 from Pattaya or ฿3,500 by van from Bangkok — flat for the whole group up to 10 passengers on every routing between the two cities and the zoo.
Tour Program
✅ Included
- ✓Khao Kheow Open Zoo entry ticket, valid all day, all zones
- ✓Access to all scheduled animal presentations at no extra charge
- ✓Private air-conditioned vehicle with English-speaking driver (when the private vehicle is added)
- ✓The zoo's vehicle entry fee, paid by us — your vehicle comes inside the grounds
- ✓Door-to-door hotel pickup and drop-off in Bangkok or Pattaya (when the vehicle is added)
- ✓Your driver and vehicle stay with you all day, moving between zones as you go
- ✓Fuel, tolls, parking and driver expenses
- ✓Booking confirmation issued in advance — no queuing at the ticket counter
❌ Not included
- ✕Licensed English-speaking guide — NOT included. Your driver is a driver, not a guide. Contact us on WhatsApp +66 89 949 6235 if you want a guide and we will quote it
- ✕Meals, snacks and drinks — restaurants and food stalls are available throughout the zoo
- ✕Animal feed cups, photo points and any optional paid experiences inside the zoo
- ✕Golf cart or tram rental — not needed if you have added our private vehicle
- ✕Night Safari, which runs on a separate evening schedule and is not part of this ticket
- ✕Personal expenses, souvenirs and gratuities
- ✕Travel insurance
Khao Kheow was created in 1974 and opened in 1978 to relieve overcrowding at Bangkok's Dusit Zoo, starting at roughly 200 acres and expanding to the 1,976 acres it occupies today. It is operated by the Zoological Park Organization, a state enterprise under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, which is why entry costs a fraction of what Thailand's privately-run animal parks charge and why the emphasis is on breeding and conservation programmes rather than on shows.
The open-range design is the reason to come. Instead of cages, most of the large herbivore collection ranges across wide hillside paddocks separated from visitors by ditches and level changes, so a herd of zebra or Eld's deer reads as a landscape rather than an exhibit. The Cats Complex Park alone runs to 40 acres and holds 48 feline species; there is a walk-through aviary where the birds fly around you rather than behind mesh; and the Eld's deer breeding programme is one of the zoo's genuine conservation achievements with a species that came close to disappearing from Thailand entirely.
The zoo's most famous resident since 2024 is Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus who became an internet phenomenon and, briefly, one of the most recognisable animals on earth. She is still here and still popular, and the zoo has put crowd-control rules around her enclosure — viewing is through glass, in managed groups, with a time limit measured in minutes rather than as long as you like. Come and see her by all means, but come for the 800 hectares around her, because a five-minute glimpse of one hippo is not a day out and anyone selling it as one is setting you up to be disappointed.
Where the zoo genuinely fails visitors is navigation. Signage and staff are overwhelmingly Thai-language, the zone system is not intuitive, and the shared tram covers the Green zone but not the Pink one. Reviews are full of people who spent 45 minutes trying to find the golf-cart office, or who rode the tram and could barely see the animals from it. Every one of those problems disappears the moment you have your own vehicle inside the gates with a driver who has done the route before — which is precisely why we sell this as a vehicle product with a ticket attached, rather than a ticket with a taxi attached.
Please note - Read Important (Click to expand)▼
- Khao Kheow Open Zoo is in Bang Phra, Si Racha, Chonburi — roughly 40 km from Pattaya and 110 km from Bangkok. It is not inside Pattaya city.
- The vehicle price is flat for the whole group up to 10 passengers: ฿3,000 for a Pattaya return, and ฿3,500 by van on anything involving Bangkok — a Bangkok return, Bangkok to Pattaya via the zoo, or Pattaya to Bangkok via the zoo.
- If you are travelling between cities on the day of your visit, tell us at booking so we load your luggage and drop you at the correct hotel in the other city.
- Children under 90 cm enter free. Children 90–135 cm pay the child rate. Above 135 cm pays the adult rate. The zoo measures at the gate.
- Moo Deng viewing is controlled by the zoo with managed group sizes and short viewing windows, and those rules change without notice. We cannot guarantee her availability on any given day.
- Some paths and viewpoints involve slopes and steps. Tell us at booking if anyone in your group uses a wheelchair or has limited mobility so we can plan the route.
- Booking requires 24 hours advance notice so we can confirm your vehicle and tickets.
What to Bring — Don’t Forget These
- • Hat, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen — the open ranges have very little shade and Chonburi regularly hits 33–35°C
- • Comfortable closed walking shoes — even with a vehicle there is walking between viewpoints
- • Refillable water bottle for each person
- • Small cash notes for animal feed cups, snacks and toilets
- • Passport or driving licence if you intend to rent a golf cart, which the zoo holds as deposit
- • Camera or phone with plenty of storage — the open-range viewpoints are the best photography in any Thai zoo
- • Light rain jacket in the May–October green season
- • Insect repellent for the forested walking sections
Cancellation Policy
Hotel pickup — Bangkok or Pattaya (with luggage if you are changing cities)
- 8:00 AM from Pattaya or Jomtien, or 7:00 AM from central Bangkok — earlier starts mean cooler weather and more active animals.
- Your English-speaking driver meets you in the hotel lobby with the vehicle. He confirms your pickup the evening before.
- If you are moving between cities that day, your luggage travels with you and we drop you at your hotel in the other city that evening.
- Drive time is 45–60 minutes from Pattaya, or roughly 2 hours from Bangkok via Motorway 7.
Arrival and drive-in — your vehicle enters the zoo grounds
- Around 9:00 AM you reach Bang Phra, Si Racha. Your tickets are already confirmed, so there is no ticket-counter queue.
- Your driver pays the vehicle entry fee and drives in through the gate with you — you are not dropped at the entrance.
- Your driver checks the day's presentation timetable at the entrance board, which is not always displayed in English.
- From this point the vehicle is your base for the day, with air conditioning, water and bags always to hand.
Green zone morning — open ranges, giraffe feeding, walk-through aviary
- The open hillside paddocks where giraffes, zebras, antelope and Eld's deer range across large enclosures without bars.
- The elevated giraffe feeding platform — feed cups cost a small amount on-site, so carry cash for several rounds.
- The walk-through aviary, where birds fly around you at close range rather than sitting behind mesh.
- The Eld's deer breeding area, one of the zoo's real conservation achievements with a species nearly lost from Thailand.
Animal presentations and the Moo Deng enclosure
- The Penguin Parade runs at 10:00 and 14:00 Monday to Friday, with an extra 15:30 showing at weekends and on public holidays.
- Other scheduled presentations through the day include animal talents, a jungle journey programme, parakeet flying and seal feeding.
- Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo who became an internet phenomenon in 2024, is viewed through glass in managed groups with a short time limit set by the zoo.
- Confirm the day's exact presentation times at the entrance — timetables shift seasonally and weekend schedules differ from weekdays.
Lunch, then the Pink zone and Cats Complex by vehicle
- Restaurants and food stalls operate inside the zoo; meals are not included, so budget cash or card for lunch.
- After lunch you drive to the Pink zone — the section with no tram service, which visitors without a vehicle almost always miss.
- The Cats Complex Park covers around 40 acres and holds roughly 48 feline species, and is the quietest major exhibit in the zoo.
- You set the pace. Stay as long as you want at any enclosure; the vehicle waits with you rather than to a timetable.
Departure and hotel drop-off in either city
- Most families leave the zoo mid-afternoon, having spent 5–6 hours inside. The zoo itself stays open until 18:00.
- Return to your Bangkok or Pattaya hotel — or, on a moving day, onward to your hotel in the other city with your luggage.
- Total day is roughly 8 hours from Pattaya, or closer to 10 hours if you are travelling from Bangkok and returning there.
- Need to adjust the timing or add a stop on the way back? Message us on WhatsApp +66 89 949 6235.
We offer pick-up to the following places for this experience:
- Door-to-door hotel pickup and drop-off across Bangkok and Pattaya/Jomtien is included when you add the private vehicle.
- The same flat price covers all four routings: Pattaya return, Bangkok return, Bangkok to the zoo and on to your Pattaya hotel, or Pattaya to the zoo and on to your Bangkok hotel.
- Changing cities that day? Give us both hotel names at booking — your luggage travels with you and we drop you at the correct hotel that evening.
- Typical pickup is 8:00 AM from Pattaya or 7:00 AM from Bangkok. Drive time is 45–60 minutes from Pattaya, around 2 hours from Bangkok via Motorway 7.
- Without the vehicle add-on you make your own way to Bang Phra, Si Racha — note there is no practical public transport to the gate, and a taxi that drops you and leaves creates a problem at the end of the day.
Why Choose Us?
- One clear price before you book — entry, vehicle and the vehicle's zoo entry fee are all quoted upfront, with no surprise charges at the counter
- TAT Licence No. 14/04232 — a licensed Thai tour operator with public registration you can verify on the government registry, not an anonymous reseller
- We answer on WhatsApp before and during your day — reach a real person on +66 89 949 6235, which matters at a zoo where most on-site signage and staff are Thai-only
- Rated 4.0 from 186 verified reviews — our own record as an operator, kept honest and public rather than borrowed from the attraction
What a Khao Kheow day actually costs — all in
The zoo is 1,976 acres. The entry ticket is the small number; getting around inside is the real one. Here is the arithmetic both ways, for a family of four on a single day:
| Gate ticket only | With our private vehicle | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry — 2 adults + 2 children | ฿1,100 | ฿1,100 |
| Getting to the zoo and back | Taxi or Grab, each way, both ways | Included |
| Getting around inside | Golf cart ฿500–700 for 2 hrs, then ฿200–300/hr — plus the queue | Included — your vehicle drives in |
| Pink zone & Cats Complex | No tram service — unreachable without a cart | Included |
| Private vehicle | — | ฿3,000 from Pattaya · ฿3,500 from Bangkok flat for the group, up to 10 passengers |
฿3,000 from Pattaya, ฿3,500 by van from Bangkok — flat for the whole vehicle either way, not per person. The Bangkok rate also covers the two moving-day routings: Bangkok to the zoo and on to your Pattaya hotel, or Pattaya to the zoo and on to your Bangkok hotel. The zoo sits almost exactly halfway between the two cities, so if you are changing hotels that day your luggage travels with you and the zoo costs very little on top of a transfer you were already paying for.
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Everything you need to know
What Actually Happens
Pickup, the drive, and why your route can save you a whole transfer
Your driver arrives at your hotel lobby at the agreed time — most families choose 8:00 AM from Pattaya or 7:00 AM from Bangkok, because the animals are visibly more active before the midday heat and the presentation timetable starts at 10:00. From Pattaya or Jomtien the drive is around 40 km and takes 45 to 60 minutes on Sukhumvit Road and then inland toward Bang Phra. From central Bangkok it is roughly 110 km and closer to two hours on Motorway 7, depending on how badly the eastern outbound is moving. The detail worth understanding before you book is where this zoo actually sits. Bang Phra is almost exactly halfway between Bangkok and Pattaya, a few kilometres off the main road that every single visitor travelling between the two cities already drives along. If you are changing cities anyway — finishing your Bangkok days and moving down to a Pattaya beach hotel, or the reverse — you can do the entire zoo on that travel day. We collect you and your luggage from the first hotel, the zoo becomes your day, and we drop you at the second hotel that evening. The price is the same ฿3,000 whichever of the four routes you take: Pattaya and back, Bangkok and back, Bangkok down to Pattaya, or Pattaya up to Bangkok. That matters commercially, and we would rather you see the arithmetic than take our word for it. A straight private transfer between a Bangkok hotel and a Pattaya hotel is a real cost you were already going to pay. Routing it through Khao Kheow means the zoo day itself adds very little to a journey you had budgeted for regardless — and you arrive at your next hotel having had a full day out instead of having spent it watching the motorway. Tell us your two hotels at booking and we will handle the luggage without you having to ask.
Driving in through the gate — the thing that changes the whole day
At the entrance your driver pays the vehicle entry fee and drives straight in. This sounds like a small logistical detail. It is the single biggest difference between our booking and a ticket bought anywhere else, and it is worth being blunt about why. Khao Kheow is 800 hectares. Safari World in Bangkok, which most visitors have heard of, is around 200 acres — this zoo is close to five times that. It is built across forested hillside, so it has gradients. Chonburi in the dry season sits at 33 to 35°C by late morning with very little shade over the open ranges. Almost every negative review of this zoo is a variation on the same experience: people arrived, underestimated the scale, walked, overheated, and left having seen perhaps half of what they paid for. One reviewer described spending 45 minutes simply trying to locate the office that rents golf carts. With your vehicle inside, none of that is your problem. You drive between the zones, the air conditioning is running the whole time, and the vehicle is your base — bags, water, spare clothes for the children all stay in it rather than on your shoulders. You stop where you want to stop and for as long as you want. You are not waiting on a tram timetable, not queuing for a cart, not rationing your energy across a park the size of a small town. Families with young children and grandparents feel this difference most sharply, which is exactly the group this zoo otherwise punishes hardest. If you take one thing from this page: at Khao Kheow, transport inside the gates is not a luxury add-on, it is the product.
The Green zone — open ranges, giraffe feeding and the walk-through aviary
The Green zone is the zoo's showcase and where most of your morning goes. This is the open-range country: wide hillside paddocks where giraffes, zebras, antelope and Eld's deer move across genuinely large enclosures separated from you by ditches and changes in level rather than by fencing you have to look through. Photographically it is unlike any other zoo in Thailand — you are shooting across a valley at a herd in a landscape, not through wire at an animal in a box. The giraffe feeding platform is the moment children remember. You stand on an elevated deck at head height with the giraffes and hold out feed while a very large, very deliberate tongue takes it from your hand. Feed cups cost a small amount at the station and it is worth carrying cash for several rounds, because nobody in your group will want to do it only once. The walk-through aviary is the other Green zone highlight: a large netted forest section you walk into, where the birds are flying around you at close range rather than perched behind mesh. The Eld's deer breeding area deserves more attention than it gets. This is a species that came close to being lost from Thailand altogether, and Khao Kheow's breeding programme is one of the concrete reasons a state conservation zoo exists at all. It is quieter than the headline exhibits and most visitors walk past it — which, if you have your own vehicle and are not rushing to beat the heat, is a good argument for stopping. The Green zone is also the part served by the shared tram, so it is the one section that visitors without a vehicle usually do manage to see.
The Pink zone and Cats Complex — the half most visitors never reach
Here is the fact that decides whether you see this zoo or half of it: the Pink zone has no tram service. None. It is reachable only by private car or by a golf cart you have rented and driven yourself. Visitors who arrive by taxi or on a gate-ticket-only booking are not usually told this, and a great many of them go home having never realised there was another section. The Cats Complex Park is the anchor here — around 40 acres holding some 48 feline species, from tigers down to the small wild cats most people have never seen and could not name. Because the complex is spread over so much ground and sits away from the main visitor flow, it is consistently the quietest major exhibit in the zoo. You can stand at an enclosure without a crowd behind you, which at a zoo receiving this many visitors is not a small thing. With the vehicle you simply drive over, spend as long as you want, and drive back. Without it you are looking at a long uphill walk in full afternoon sun, or a queue for a golf cart at ฿500 to ฿700 for the first two hours plus ฿200 to ฿300 per hour after that, with your passport or driving licence held as deposit until you return it. That cart cost, incidentally, is a large slice of what our whole vehicle costs for the entire group for the entire day, and the cart has no air conditioning, no driver, and no idea where it is going. This zone is the clearest illustration of why we structured this product the way we did.
Animal presentations, Moo Deng, and getting the timing right
Khao Kheow runs a fixed daily timetable of animal presentations, and building your day loosely around two or three of them works far better than wandering and hoping. The Penguin Parade runs Monday to Friday at 10:00 and 14:00, with an additional 15:30 showing on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Other scheduled presentations through the day include animal talents, a jungle journey programme, parakeet flying and seal feeding, each on its own weekday and weekend schedule. Because timetables at Thai attractions do shift seasonally, confirm the day's exact times at the entrance when you arrive — your driver can check the board for you, since it is not always posted in English. Then there is Moo Deng. The pygmy hippopotamus born here in 2024 became a global internet phenomenon, and she remains the reason a significant share of visitors first hear of this zoo at all. She is still here. But the zoo has had to put firm crowd-control measures around her enclosure after visitors behaved badly — throwing things and splashing water to get her attention — and viewing is now through glass, in managed groups, with a short time limit rather than as long as you please. Those rules have been tightened, loosened and changed more than once, and they can change again without notice. So see her, absolutely — but treat her as one highlight in a very large zoo rather than the reason for the trip. We would rather tell you that plainly now than have you drive two hours from Bangkok expecting a private audience with a celebrity hippo. The 8,000 other animals across 300 species are the day out. Moo Deng is a bonus that the zoo, quite reasonably, controls in her own interest. One last practical note: your driver is a driver, not a guide. He knows the roads and the zone layout and he will get you where you need to be, but he is not there to give commentary on the animals. If you want that — and at a zoo where the signage is largely Thai-only there is a real case for it — message us on WhatsApp before you book and we will quote a licensed English-speaking guide for your day.
Is This Right for You?
✦ Families with young children or grandparents
Yes, and more so here than at almost any other Thai attraction. This is a zoo where the physical demand is the deciding factor: 1,976 acres of hillside in 34°C heat is genuinely hard on small children and older relatives, and it is why so many family reviews describe a day that started well and ended in exhaustion. Booking the vehicle inverts that completely — the air conditioning is always thirty seconds away, bags and water stay in the car, and nobody is being carried up a hill. A multi-generational group of eight pays the same ฿3,000 for the vehicle as a couple does, plus ฿350 per adult and ฿200 per child for entry, which makes it one of the better-value family days in the region.
✦ Travellers moving between Bangkok and Pattaya
This is the single best fit for the product and the reason we price the vehicle flat for the whole group. Khao Kheow sits almost exactly halfway between the two cities, a short detour off the road you were going to drive anyway. If your itinerary has you changing hotels between Bangkok and Pattaya, put the zoo on that day: we collect you and your luggage from the first hotel, you spend the day at the zoo, and we drop you at your hotel in the other city that evening. The ฿3,500 van covers that routing in either direction — Bangkok to Pattaya, or Pattaya to Bangkok — at the same price as a straight Bangkok return. You convert a wasted travel day into a full day out.
✦ Anyone who has already done Safari World
Yes, because they are genuinely different products rather than two versions of the same one. Safari World is a shows-and-entertainment park close to Bangkok with a drive-through safari section, six scheduled live shows and an Indian buffet — a tightly-packed, high-energy day. Khao Kheow is a state conservation zoo five times the size where the appeal is open-range viewing, scale, species breadth and breeding programmes, at a fraction of the entry price. If your family enjoyed Safari World and has another day to spend, this is the natural second animal day rather than a repeat. See our Safari World Bangkok tour if you have not done that one yet.
✦ Photographers and wildlife enthusiasts
Strongly yes. The open-range design means you can shoot animals in something that reads as landscape rather than as enclosure, which is rare in Southeast Asian zoos and nearly impossible at the more commercial parks. The Cats Complex holds 48 feline species across 40 acres and is quiet enough that you can work an enclosure without a crowd at your back. Early morning light on the hillside paddocks is the best window, which is another argument for the 8:00 AM pickup and for having a vehicle so you can reach the right zone while that light lasts.
✦ Visitors expecting a polished international-standard zoo
Be realistic about what this is. Khao Kheow is a government conservation zoo, not a private theme park, and it shows in both directions — entry costs a fraction of Thailand's commercial animal attractions, and in return the presentation is less polished. Reviews mention tired signage, some enclosures needing maintenance and basic toilets in the outer zones. If your benchmark is Singapore Zoo, you will notice the gap. If what you want is genuine scale, open ranges and 300+ species at ฿350, this delivers something Singapore cannot at any price. We would rather set that expectation here than have you find out at the gate.
What Our Guests Say
"We did this on our moving day from Bangkok to Pattaya and it was the best decision of the trip. Luggage stayed in the van, kids fed the giraffes, and we reached our Pattaya hotel by evening. We would have paid for that transfer anyway. My parents are 70 and they managed the whole day because the van was always there with the AC on."
"Eight of us and one flat price for the van — that alone made it cheaper than any other option we found. The driver took us to the cat section that the tram does not go to, which we would definitely have missed. Very hot day but we were in the car between every stop. Plenty of food choices inside for everyone."
"Honest booking, which I appreciated. They told us upfront that Moo Deng is a five-minute glass viewing and not to build the day around her, and they were right. The open range areas are the real attraction — genuinely huge, nothing like a normal zoo. Driver was on time both ways and stayed with us all day."
"We had already done Safari World and were not sure this would add anything. Completely different day — much bigger, much quieter, and far cheaper to get in. The walk-through aviary was a hit with our two. Book the vehicle, do not try to walk this place, it is enormous."
Verified reviews from our Trip Thai Tour on TripAdvisor
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SUV or van, up to 10 passengers — flat for the whole group, not per person. Your driver pays the vehicle entry fee and comes inside the grounds with you, so you reach the Pink zone and Cats Complex that the tram does not serve, and you never queue for a golf cart. Zoo entry is charged per person on top and confirmed in your quote.
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Frequently
Asked
Questions
Entry through us is ฿350 per adult and ฿200 per child, with children under 90 cm entering free. Children measuring 90–135 cm pay the child rate and anyone above 135 cm pays the adult rate — the zoo measures at the gate rather than asking for age. Our private vehicle is a separate ฿3,000 flat for the whole group up to 10 passengers, and that single price covers all four routes between Bangkok, Pattaya and the zoo.
You will see a range of prices quoted online for this zoo, from ฿250 up to ฿350, because the gate rate was increased after the zoo's rise in popularity and many listings have never been updated. Treat anything advertising ฿250 with caution — that figure is out of date, and a ticket that looks cheap online has a way of becoming a different number at the counter. Everything we quote is confirmed before you travel.
No. It is at 235 Moo 7, Bang Phra, in the Si Racha district of Chonburi province — about 40 km north of Pattaya, a 45 to 60 minute drive. It is commonly marketed as a Pattaya attraction because Pattaya is the nearest resort city, but it is not inside Pattaya city and there is no practical public transport to the gate.
From central Bangkok it is roughly 110 km, or about two hours via Motorway 7. That position — nearly midway between the two cities — is the reason we price all four routes the same. If you are moving between Bangkok and Pattaya on your visit day, the zoo is barely a detour from the road you would drive regardless.
Because the zoo covers 800 hectares — 1,976 acres — which is roughly five times the size of Safari World, spread across forested hillside, in a province that regularly hits 33–35°C. The most common complaint in visitor reviews is some version of walking too far in the heat and only seeing part of the zoo. The Pink zone, which includes the 40-acre Cats Complex, has no tram service at all and cannot be reached on the shared tram.
Private cars are permitted inside the grounds, so our driver pays the vehicle entry fee and comes in with you rather than dropping you at the gate. The vehicle then works as your air-conditioned base all day: you drive between zones, keep bags and water in the car, stop as long as you like, and never queue for a golf cart. At ฿3,000 flat for up to 10 people it costs little more than renting a cart for a few hours, and the cart has no driver, no air conditioning and no knowledge of the layout.
Moo Deng, the pygmy hippopotamus born at the zoo in 2024, is still resident and still the most sought-after animal there. But the zoo controls access to her closely after visitors were filmed throwing objects and splashing water to provoke a reaction. Viewing is through glass, in managed group sizes, with a time limit measured in minutes — and the zoo has adjusted those rules repeatedly, at times restricting viewing to certain days.
So no, we cannot guarantee her, and we will not pretend otherwise. Anyone who promises you unrestricted Moo Deng access is selling something the zoo does not allow them to sell. Come to see 8,000 animals across 300 species on 1,976 acres, and treat a few minutes with Moo Deng as the bonus it is. If she happens to be off-view that day, you will still have had a full day out.
No. Your driver is a driver — he is English-speaking, knows the roads and the zone layout, and will take you wherever you want to go inside the zoo, but he does not give commentary on the animals or the exhibits. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it on the day.
If you would like a licensed English-speaking guide for the day, contact us on WhatsApp at +66 89 949 6235 before you book and we will quote it alongside your booking. There is a genuine case for one here: signage throughout the zoo is largely Thai-language and reviewers regularly mention that on-site staff and tram commentary are Thai-only, so a guide adds more at Khao Kheow than at most attractions.
The zoo is open daily from 08:00 to 18:00 and does not close on any weekday. That makes it a useful option on Mondays, when Safari World in Bangkok is closed and many visitors are looking for an alternative animal day.
We recommend arriving between 09:00 and 09:30. Mornings are considerably cooler, animals are more active before midday, and the scheduled presentation timetable begins around 10:00. Plan on 5–6 hours inside; most families leave mid-afternoon rather than staying to closing.
The Penguin Parade runs at 10:00 and 14:00 Monday to Friday, with an additional 15:30 showing on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. Other scheduled programmes across the day include animal talents, a jungle journey presentation, parakeet flying and seal feeding, each running to its own weekday and weekend timetable.
Times at Thai attractions do move seasonally and around public holidays, so always confirm the day's schedule at the entrance board when you arrive. The board is not consistently posted in English — ask your driver to read it for you, and build your route around two or three presentations rather than trying to catch them all.
They are different kinds of day out rather than competing versions of the same one. Safari World is a commercial entertainment park close to Bangkok built around six scheduled live shows, a drive-through safari section and an included Indian buffet — busy, tightly programmed and easy to complete in a day. Khao Kheow is a state conservation zoo roughly five times larger where the appeal is open-range viewing, species breadth and breeding programmes, at a small fraction of the entry price.
If you have time for only one and you are based in Bangkok with children who want shows and a buffet, Safari World is the easier choice — see our Safari World Bangkok tour. If you are on the Pattaya side, moving between the two cities, or you have already done Safari World and want something bigger and quieter, Khao Kheow is the better day. Many families we carry do both on different days.
Yes. We cover four routings, at ฿3,000 from Pattaya and ฿3,500 by van from Bangkok: Pattaya to the zoo and back to Pattaya; Bangkok to the zoo and back to Bangkok; Bangkok to the zoo and onward to your Pattaya hotel; and Pattaya to the zoo and onward to your Bangkok hotel. Choose your route in the booking form and give us both hotel names if you are changing cities.
The two one-way routings are the ones worth thinking about, because the zoo sits almost exactly between the cities. If your itinerary already has you transferring between Bangkok and Pattaya, running that transfer through the zoo turns a lost travel day into a full day out for very little extra. Your luggage travels in the vehicle and we drop you at your onward hotel that evening.
With the private vehicle, yes for most groups — this is precisely the situation the vehicle solves. Grandparents and toddlers who would struggle to cross 1,976 acres of hillside in the heat can do the day comfortably because the air-conditioned car is always with you and the walking is reduced to short stretches between viewpoints and the vehicle.
For wheelchair users there are real limits: some viewpoints and paths involve slopes and steps, and the terrain is uneven in places. Tell us at booking if anyone in your group uses a wheelchair or has limited mobility and we will plan a route around the accessible sections and brief your driver accordingly. Message us on WhatsApp at +66 89 949 6235 to discuss specifics before you book.
Cancel more than 7 days before your visit date and you receive a full refund. Cancel between 7 days and 48 hours before and you receive 50%. Inside 48 hours there is no refund, because your vehicle and driver are committed by that point and the cost has already been incurred on our side.
Date changes requested at least 48 hours ahead are free of charge, subject to vehicle availability — we would much rather move your booking than have you lose it, so contact us as soon as you know your plans have shifted. The full policy is published at tripthaitour.com/cancellation-policy.
Bring sun protection above everything: a hat, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen, because the open ranges have very little shade and Chonburi sits at 33–35°C through much of the year. Add comfortable closed shoes, a refillable water bottle each, insect repellent for the forested sections, and a light rain jacket between May and October.
Carry small cash notes for animal feed cups, snacks, lunch and toilets in the outer zones. Meals are not included in your ticket and the zoo has restaurants and food stalls throughout, with halal-friendly, vegetarian, Indian and Western options available in the main dining areas. If you plan to rent a golf cart rather than using our vehicle, bring a passport or driving licence — the zoo holds it as a deposit.
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