The Aquarium, the newest add to Thailand's Chiang Mai Zoo, is finally open. In late October, the Aquarium shut down literally hours after its official opening gala, due to malfunctions in both the life support systems and the ticketing machines.
Apparently, sand had found its way past the filtration system entering the main tank, and creating water murky enough to delay the opening for about three weeks.
However, the Aquarium is now up and running, and is touted as Southeast Asia's largest with an expectation to gain 800,000 visitors annually. The Aquarium was built as a joint venture between the Zoological Park Organization (an apparently governmental body) and an undisclosed private investor for the sum of $17 million.
Boasting the World's Longest Acrylic Tunnel at 133 meters (436 feet--longer than a football field!), the Aquarium is over 13,000 sf in area divided into 9 zones. The tunnel itself not only allows visitors to gaze into the depths of a marine environment, but also takes visitors through a freshwater tank.
I've not been able to find many pictures of the Aquarium online, so if you know of any, please let me know.
