Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi Thailand

Critique of Tiger Temple Kanchanaburi Thailand
Some claim the Tiger Temple's philosophy for animal conservation is flawed. An organization named Care for the Wild International claimed that based on information collected between 2005 and 2008 the Tiger Temple is involved in clandestine exchange of tigers with the owner of a tiger farm in Laos contravening the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and national laws of Thailand and Laos. It claimed it operates as a tiger breeding facility without having a respective license as required under the Thai Wild Animals Reservation and Protection Act of 1992. It also claims animal welfare problems at the Tiger Temple are severe and include poor accommodation, lack of appropriate environments and veterinary care, and physical abuse of the tigers to make them compliant for visiting tourists.
However, most of the claims in the internet, and the information in the report are the same (some think it looks like a deliberate 'sting'), and Care for the Wild was previously not very well known. According to the report Care for the Wild did not find any evidence of the tigers being drugged. After the report, many press turned up at the temple but they were not able to substantiate the claims. Articles that look like they are negative are reporting the publication of the report and are not based on further evidence. The Thai government also investigated the temple again (although they had done so previously) and said that the tigers were well looked after. The temple has also been now given an official permit to breed tigers. It is also possible for any visitor to view the tiger accommodation, including Tiger Island, which is nearly completed.
Since the report by Care for the Wild International, a coalition of 39 prominent conservation groups, including the Humane Society International, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the World Wide Fund for Nature, have penned a letter to the Director General of National Parks in Thailand under the name 'The International Tiger Coalition.' [4] This letter urges the Director General to take action against the Tiger Temple over its import and export of 12 tigers with Laos, its lack of connection with accredited conservation breeding programmes, and to genetically test the tigers at the Tiger Temple in order to determine their pedigree and value to tiger conservation programmes. It concludes that the 'Temple does not have the facilities, the skills, the relationships with accredited zoos, or even the desire to manage its tigers in an appropriate fashion. Instead, it is motivated both in display of the tigers to tourists and in its illegal trading of tigers purely by profit.' Jasmijn