Pattaya Nong Nooch Gardens even has its own Stonehenge

by Jack Corbett

Pattaya Nong Nooch Gardens, all 600 acres of it, is oftentimes acclaimed as the finest botanical garden in Southeast Asia,

 

 

Nong Nooch has something for everyone including Thai cultural shows and an elephant show that I believe could not possibly exist in the United States.  There's even a nearly full size Stonehenge here.  Because the couple accompanying my girlfriend and me on this outing were apprehensive over the potential danger to life and limb of our driving motorbikes to Nong Nooch we took a mini tour through a travel agency that sent out for us a mini-bus to my condo.  The mini tour was all inclusive since our tickets entitled us to free admission to all the shows along with admission into the Gardens.  Although our female tour guide was,  knowledgeable, conscientious and helpful, a great deal of time was spent not only on the mini bus but also waiting at a central depot the mini bus took us to near the Dusit Resort while everyone waited for the large tour bus to fill up.  My girlfriend and I could have easily ridden the motorbike and taken the gardens by ourselves for far less money as we would have probably foregone the shows. But then we would have missed the elephant show.  I already mentioned that nothing like it probably exists in the United States.  That's because the U.S. is so litigation conscious that the  smallest injury to one of the visitors to the park that could even be remotely attributed to an elephant would invite a multi million dollars personal injury suit.  But this is Thailand and here no such problem exists.  Thankfully.  During the elephant show one can, feed, stroke and pet the elephants.  And for a small fee a visitor can have one of the elephants pick him up with its trunk.  At one point during the show visitors are invited to lie down on their backs in the center of the arena while elephants step all over their bodies with the utmost delicacy.  But just imagine an elephant slipping as its huge foot drives deep against the chest of a prostrate visitor? Which probably has never happened.  For one thing believe it or not, elephants are surprisingly agile.  I think we were all surprised and amazed to see the elephants paint pictures with their trunks, play soccer, shoot baskets from over thirty feet away, and kick field goals through an improvised upright.  Although Pattaya is best known for its thriving nightlife and bars, Nong Nooch is one of the most compelling reasons in the entire Pattaya area that proves there's a lot more to the city than meets the eye.