Last weekend my coworkers and I decided to have some wholesome fun and go to see some domesticated wild animals eat and poop in their cages.
We got more than we bargained for at Safari World, a zoo-like establishment 45 minutes from the center of Bangkok. Actually we literally had to bargain after one of the workers at one entrance took our tickets and then they asked for the tickets again at a second entrance. Apparently the guy was supposed to rip them and give them back to us but neglected to. Confusion ensued.
In my time here I have learned that Thais are not known for their excellent service. Most establishments I have seen are heavily overstaffed. This would lead you to believe that they are ready to meet any need you have or problem that might arise. In actuality it is very different. The best way I can describe Thai people working together to solve a problem is to picture the three stooges and multiply them by however many people are trying to help you at that time.
I think we went through about 10 workers trying to figure out what went wrong. 45 minutes of cooing and caaing and forced smiles through tears later we were finally let in to Safari World without having to pay more.
What follows is a montage of our day at Safari World.

This is from before the fiasco with the worker taking our tickets. We actually showed up in a taxi to the portion where you drive through the park to check out the animals, only to find out that you were supposed to bring your own car. So we told our stunned taxi driver to drive us through. Luckily we didn't have to pay for his entrance. I don't think they consider taxi drivers human here.

After the taxi we got ready for the zoo portion of the tour by wearing zebra and parrot paraphernalia

World's greatest toilet. World's gayest fake "I have to shit" walk

Once inside the park we sought out the Orang Utan Show. It was just as awesome as it sounds and looks.

Orang Utan Boxing - I was hoping for real blows to be exchanged. Unfortunately the people who worked at Safari World do not believe in "cruelty to animals"

Me and an Orang Utan chillin before the big show

This was the giraffe feeding portion of the tour. For 40 baht ($1.25) you could buy a bucket of bananas and feed these guys. They stuck their long purple tongue out and curled it back into their mouth to eat the bananas. For participation points, make your own joke about 12 inch purple tongues.

Gerry the Giraffe. I fed him a banana. Then he stared at me for 10 minutes straight.
Lessons learned from the day: giraffes and orang utans coming together to provide customer service would probably be just slightly less capable than Thais doing the same.
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