BANGKOK Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- The world's longest tunnel aquarium, located in Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand, opened on Sunday.

    The Chiang Mai Zoo's aquarium, set on a 10-rai (1.6 hectares) plot of land, is made up of freshwater and ocean sections. It is 133 meters long and 66.5 meters wide. The aquarium, being built by the Zoological Park Organization (ZPO), features the world's longest tunnel aquarium which houses about 8,000 aquatic animals of 250 different species.

    Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat presided over the opening of the Chiang Mai Zoo's aquarium. Somchai visited the northern province of Chiang Mai after he returned home from Beijing, where he attended the Asia-Europe Meeting.

    The new 600-million-baht aquarium is expected to boost tourism in Chiang Mai, which is expected to be the venue of the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit to be held in December.