I am surprised nobody has reviewed Dusit Zoo as of yet as it is a fantastic day out in Bangkok. Located in Dusit which is a couple of miles north of the centre of Bangkok, it can be reached easily enough by taxi. Beware though taxi drivers have been known to try and persuade you or take you to other wildlife parks which they will get a cut of the money for taking you so make sure you are clear that Dusit Zoo is where you expect to end up!

That warning aside you will arrive at a large front gate and perhaps see a giraffe's head gazing over the wall, heading inside there will be ticket offices which will charge tourists 100 Baht and locals 50b. So this will equate to around £2 which although double the local price is still very reasonable and I think considering the gap in earnings is a pretty fair system. Make sure you pick up a map on the way in too, as this is a very expansive piece of land!

There are large areas with all the well known animals you would expect to see in a zoo, many of which are far more open and put you in close proximity to the animals than you would be in many other zoo's. Unsurprisingly there is a huge reptile area too with every snake and lizard you can imagine. Luckily there are many small cafes and even some beter known food outlets such as KFC dotted around the park which provide welcome rests as you wonder around in the heat and humidity. If you feel the heat is too much there is a hop on hop off bus/train kinda thing which will take you from one area to the next.

It is slightly pointless listing the species of bird, reptile, mammal etc that you will find in there as it would actually be quicker to list species they do not have! One stand out that they do not have is pandas, but they do have red pandas which in itself is quite unusual so goes a long way to making up for that!

With Thailand being more relaxed in terms of health and safety regulations than western countries, expect some random animals to just be lying around the place... We took a seat beside some bushes to realise that one of their pythons was sitting under the bush...don't worry a minder was at hand! So snakes, skunks, parrots, and other animals will be around the zoo that you can pet and get photos with for a small fee.

There are a few shows going on frequently around the zoo, the elephant show is a big draw for tourists and locals alike.

I can't recommend this zoo highly enough, its got so much going on at such a good price and maintains that slightly untamed wild feel that makes it so much more entertaining!