"We've had some discussions on this issue because we believe the current location is too limited in space for the zoo," Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Sanidwong na Ayudhaya said yesterday.

PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan has suggested the lush compound of the zoo could be used as a public park.

The idea has caught Sophon Damnui, who heads the Zoological Park Organisation under Royal Patronage, off guard. "I am nonplussed. I have not heard of this idea before," he said.

Sophon said the zoo's landscape had been developed considerably in the past four years to make the zoo a learning centre for children and adults. "We recently obtained Bt12 million to build a museum in the compound and create a fountain so that children can play," Sophon said.