Thailand is known for its up-close animal encounters. You can ride an elephant through the jungle and even pet a tiger.
One tourist attraction pushed the limits a little too far even for Thailand standards when it offered visitors the chance to feed a frenzy of hungry crocodiles from a make-shift raft.
When images of the attraction hit Twitter, they went viral and sparked local authorities to shut it down. The photos showed rafts held buoyant by plastic barrels loaded with more than a dozen tourists while an equal number of giant 10-foot long crocodiles circled aggressively.
Guests held sticks with meat dangling from them as the crocs came in with opened jaws. Some are taking photos, others just observing. A taxi driver who took the shots said it looked extremely dangerous.
“I’ve bee a taxi driver for more than 20 years and never seen anything like this before,” he told The Mirror.
The pond where this took place is part of a crocodile farm with an estimated 4,300 crocodiles. It was apparently popular mostly with Chinese tourists. It seemed the visitors were blissfully unaware of the true dangers as anyone who fell into the water if one of the rafts were to split would not stand a chance.
Another onlooker said it was one of the riskiest activities he had ever seen. Authorities swooped onto the property and shut down operations for 90 days while they conduct safety checks. The owner insisted they watched this closely and never put more than 15 people on a raft.
Something about it just doesn’t look right to us. This just might be the world’s most terrifying tourist attraction.
New attraction next to #Pattaya called Elephant Kingdom(อาณาจักรช้าง). Definitely not safe. @RichardBarrow #Thailand pic.twitter.com/9oJ6bodj7V
— bangkok charlie (@bangkokcharlie) July 15, 2016
