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Thailand will disburse nearly US$1 million to build an air-conditioned glass enclosure for a pair of Chinese giant pandas expected to arrive later next year.
Reports of the state-owned radio said Tuesday that the government also decided that the panda pair will be accommodated in the zoo of Chiang Mai province, 700 km north of here, because the weather there is cooler than the rest of the kingdom and it is close to China.
Local media reports said China has agreed to lend two pandas aged 3-4 and weighing about 50 kg each to Thailand, on a renewable 10-year loan contract starting October 2003.
Beside building an air-conditioned enclosure with sun-roof for the panda pair, the Thai government plans to send two specialists of the Chiang Mai Zoo for training in China's mainland, Hong Kong and the United States to learn how to take care of pandas.
The kingdom will also hold a nationwide contest for selecting Thai names for the panda pair.
Only four countries currently have pandas as "special envoys" from China, namely the United States, Japan, Germany and Mexico.
(eastday.com August 14, 2002)
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