Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Gardens covers an area of 500 acres and is a very well-known and popular tourist destination in Chon Buri. The park is very well known for its beautiful topiaries, elaborate plant displays, a Thai Cultural Show as well as an Elephant Show.
It should be noted that this park uses elephants in controversial ways, making them perform unnatural activities such as riding tricycles, playing football, or painting pictures to please the audience. Bull hooks – sharp metal hooks with wooden handles - are obvious everywhere, and are used quite obviously on the animals to control their behaviour, and also behind the scenes to train them to perform their tricks and stunts. Elephants are also used for photo opportunities with tourists who pay the requisite fee, and to give tourists rides around the gardens if they do not wish to walk. Many groups have questioned the ethics of using elephants in this manner for human entertainment.
The park also gives visitors an opportunity to pose for a paid photo op in close proximity to a live captive tiger. The animal is chained in place, and its neck is contained in a metal clamp set in concrete to restrict its movements so it cannot move or injure the tourists. Ethics and moral consensus come into question when visiting this park.
However, if one is interested in the gardens they are able to experience the park without participating in the show or seeing the tigers. To tour the gardens tourists may walk, rent bikes or take a train ride and are not subjected to only using elephants to tour the grounds.
One must be aware that entering this park they are going to see animals used in unnatural circumstances and it is unavoidable.
Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Gardens covers an area of 500 acres and is a very well-known and popular tourist destination in Chon Buri. The gardens were initially intended to become a fruit plantation in 1954 when the land was first purchased in 1954 by Pisit and Nongnooch Tansacha. However one of the owners became interested in a botanical garden for the conservation of tropical flowers and plants, and that shaped its future development. Nong Nooch Gardens first opened to the public in 1989, and since then has attracted many thousands of visitors each day. The park is very well known for its beautiful topiaries, elaborate plant displays, and immaculate gardens mirroring places such as Stone Henge in England, or Versailles in France. There are also intricate admiration's of traditional Thai gardens. Nong Nooch also has a scientific facility that specializes in cycads – ancient plants that resemble palms or tree ferns - and they have their own gene bank to help preserve these endangered plants. Not only can you enjoy walking through gardens, you can also attend a Thai Cultural Show that portrays Thai Dancing, traditional Thai Costumes and a Muay Thai Boxing fight. Along with this show there is also an Elephant Show where you can touch, feed or pose with the animals for a small price while seeing them perform for an audience. There are also many places to purchase souvenirs and shop. The park is very large and due to its massive size, elephant rides, and train rides are available to tour the grounds or you can even rent a bicycle and see what you are interested in.
When visiting Nong Nooch there are several options available for how to spend your day. You can just visit the gardens, or include the gardens, the Thai Cultural show, and an elephant show.
Good - I believe that the park originally started as something fantastic, who doesn't love going to beautifully gardens; everything is so luscious and green. Mimicing gardens from several places around the world while incorporating a Thai sytle allows visitors to experience plants from all over and get to look at beautiful designs. Also I would never object to bringing more green into the world. The gardens provide a good day trip to anyone who would like to experience a tour through 500 acres of gardens; admiring the sculpting and care that has gone into grooming something so gorgeous. The park is also known to have a scientific center that is dedicated to cycads due to its rarity and the fact that cycads are endangered; being endangered the park has been able to produce almost every species of cycads. The gardens are very beautiful and have been taken care of extremely well.
Bad - Nong Nooch has become that of an overcrowded, overpriced and just plain horrid park that has expanded from a beautiful garden park to exploiting animals for the profitability they offer to the park. Experiencing the elephant show was extremely painful for myself to watch as elephants were being poked with bull hooks and tied up with chains forced to sit in unnatural positions while tourists sat upon them while getting a photograph. This was all before the show ever started - the elephants (20 plus elephants) are forced into a small backstage area - that is barely concealed. They are here to wait until it is there turn to perform - performances included playing soccer, riding on tricycles, popping balloons and much more. As the area backstage was barely concealed you can see the trainers backstage using bull hooks on the innocent animals. I would not even conclude this as the worst part; the audience appalled me as you heard loud clapping and cheering from every section on the crowd. After the show each member of the audience is rushing to get a picture with the elephants pushing their way to the front, making it nearly impossible to exit the show area.
After thinking about both the good and bad I would not return to nong nooch just knowing the association with using animals as performance objects.
Red Light
Animal ethics are a major factor when choosing to visit this attraction. Seeing animals forced to perform unnatural activities and be exhibited for profit under questionable circumstances may be difficult for ethical tourists to avoid. Even if you choose not to purchase tickets to the animal shows, you will still be subjected to seeing elephants used for riding throughout the park, and a captive tiger used for commercial photo ops.
*Rating is based on my personal experience and my own opinion*
Types of Gardens
Activities Include:
Elephant Rides
Sky Walk
Bike Riding
Sightseeing Bus
Paddle Boats
Nong Nooch Gardens also has
Meeting Rooms
Catering to weddings on a large scale or on a small scale
Seminars Facilities
Spa
Restaurants
A Fitness Center
Pool
Mini Mart
The park is open 8:00 am - 6:00 pm or 08.00 - 18.00
The shows run 4 times a day: 9:45 am, 10:30 am, 3:00 pm, and 3:45 pm
Visiting only the gardens
Adult: 100 Baht
Child: 50 Baht
Visiting gardens and attending shows
Adult: 300 Baht
Child: 150 Baht
Nong Nooch is located roughly about 18km South from Pattaya CIty
Many toursits can book tour groups through their hotel or an outside group. However, if one is driving to Nong Nooch with their own private vehicle, you need to drive from Sukhumvit Road (Main road in Pattaya) towards Sattahip (South). After passing Wat Yansangwararam, continue to go straight for a little while, there will be a notice sign for Nong Nooch and it will be on the left hand side.
Pattaya, Παττάγια, Pattaya, 20150, Thailand
Head Office
34/1 Moo 7 Najomtien District, Sattahip, Chonburi 20250 Thailand
Telephone: (038) 709358-62
Fax. (038) 238160
Bangkok Office
Scala Theatre, Siam Square Soi 1, Pratumwan, Bangkok 10330 Thailand
Telephone: (02) 2512161, 25217886
Fax. (02) 4255748
Pattaya Office
Opposite Basaya Hotel Pattaya, Chonburi 20250, Thailand
Telephone: (038) 422958
Fax. (038) 425748
Email Address
kampon@loxinfo.co.th
info@nongnoochgardenpattaya.com
Website: www.nongnoochgardenpattaya.com
Laura Mannen
Last Updated: April 2015
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