The Annual Surin Thailand Elephant Festival
Every year the city of Surin holds an event they describe as the Elephant Festival and Roundup. This cultural show incorporates a few different aspects of the elephants use in ancient times by these hardy people. This is the one main tourist event of the year for Surin, and it draws large crowds of tourists to the city. The elephant festival is so popular in Thailand with visiting foreigners that the hotels for this time period (the third weekend of November each year) that hotels are sold out months in advance, and the hotels charge double their usual rates.
If you are ever in Thailand during the month of November I urge you to go see this show. It is one of a kind, and the proceeds go toward feeding and caring for the elephants and their 'mahouts' or handlers. Thailand no longer uses elephants for logging and construction (or warfare) as in the days of yore, so these magnificent animals need to find other ways to support their enormous appetites that doesn't affect the agriculture areas and jungles of the country. Elephants have been domesticated in Southeast Asia for many centuries, and their wild habitats have shrunk, due to human encroachment and agricultural needs, to the point where many would not be able to survive in the wild any longer in large numbers as before in ancient times. There are many elephant camps in the country that have shows for tourists and elephant rides that help support the animals and their owners. The Surin elephant roundup and festival is the main event of the year, and hundreds of mahouts and their elephants come to Surin each year to join in the show.
There are many parts to this show and it is held over three days. The main show is held at the Surin Stadium and starts in the morning and goes on through the day until late in the afternoon. There is also a nightly cultural show which depicts how the early Surin people came to the area with their elephants and tells of the many battles they fought with invaders of Burma and Cambodia over the centuries. There is native dancing, beautiful flower girl parades, beauty queen pageants, and light shows showing the ancient culture of the city. Above the picture shows how the mahouts in earlier times used their domesticated elephants to hunt and capture wild elephants. It is a sort of elephant rodeo show, and quite thrilling to see.
Notice the lassos on the domesticated elephants for the mahouts to rope the wild ones. Elephants are extremely intelligent creatures, and very dangerous to hunt and capture.
The elephant procession and introduction. Every elephant has a name and most are raised by their chosen mahout from a very young age. Most elephants stay with their mahout throughout their lives and are closely bonded to their handler and very well trained in the many jobs that the animals were used for. The shows here at the festival are amusing, but what they really show are the different ways the elephants are trained to do the jobs they were needed for.
Sitting up for the audience. Elephants can do many tricks, and they are very smart and can be highly trained. I've seen elephants play soccer, play basketball (although they are horrible dribblers they can easily stuff the ball in the net), and many other things that are amazing and amusing to see.
Here the handlers bring out four young elephants and give them paint pots and paintbrushes and have them paint pictures on t-shirts to sell to the audience to raise money for the elephants upkeep and care. These pachyderm Picasso paintings are highly prized by the audience members and are 'bid' on and go to the highest bidders. The baby elephants do seem to enjoy this and they have a good eye for colors and sometimes you would swear they are trying to paint flowers and such. I bought one for my daughter for Xmas a couple of years ago.
A weightlifter showing off his strength. I went and lifted this barbell after the show. I was real and it was heavy!
A young elephant painter collects the money (baht) for his artistic efforts. These t-shirts are cool, and the money goes to a good cause, the maintenance of these wonderful intelligent animals. Bid high to ensure you get one of your own.
One of the most amusing events in the elephant festival is the elephant versus man tug-of-war. A couple of years ago one bull elephant took on over 100 men in a tug of war, and won! It took 130 men to finally beat him. These creatures are extremely strong. Being that there are so many elephants out on the field during the show there are sometimes some leftover dung lying about during the tug of war event, and it is amusing to watch the losers trying to avoid these jumbo presents as they are dragged down the field by the winning elephant.
The men trying their best to beat their mammoth elephant opponent.
The battle for Surin commences and the fighting is intense.
The boys and men doing these re-enactments of the battles really get into it and do a great job. You'd swear you were back in time watching the real thing the way they choreograph the fight scenes.
A bloody battle and brutal warriors fighting to the death.
The King of Surin and his war elephant.
A war elephant with his handler and entourage.
The defeated Burmese General goes to surrender his sword and pennant to the victorious Surin king.
There are booths with many things to buy for the tourists, including foods and drink and all sorts of trinkets and clothing. As you can see there are stadium seats to watch the show. There is also VIP seats which you can buy in advance that are set up in the shade of roofing. These are the best seats and I'd advise trying to secure some for the show. November is the beginning of the cooler season in Surin, but daytime hour temperatures still reach the low 90's. Nights are cooler, and that is when they have the cultural shows for some evening fun and education. The night shows are also very well done, you can meet some of the elephants from the day show and there are photo ops available for a small fee as well then. On the Friday evening before the Elephant Roundup starts there is a ritual feeding of the elephants by Surin's citizens. On Friday afternoon they also have a 'blessing' by monks of the elephants and their handlers and a feeding of the elephants by the city and people of Surin. In the afternoon they also have a procession/parade where you can see all the elephants that have come to the city for the festival. This is a great time; just be careful where you walk though.
I highly recommend seeing the Elephant Festival and Round-up for anyone visiting Thailand in November. It will be a highlight of your holiday and I guarantee you will enjoy the show and this wonderful city and its friendly people, and its delicious Isaan Thai foods. There are many other cultural sites to see and things to do in the area to make a few days stay here a vacation you'll not soon forget.
See my articles on Khao Phanom Rung, Khao Phra Vihan, Sinarin Silversmith Village, and the wonderful Tasawang Silk Village for more interesting places to visit when you come to see the Surin Elephant Festival and Round-up.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
Mike/Cent
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