Biggest elephant show kicks off in Surin

Surin began its biggest elephant show yesterday with thousands of both local and foreign visitors witnessing the opening ceremony of the 2014 Elephant welcome party and buffet.

The event started from 8:30 am with an elephant parade starting from the center of the city in Surin province, followed by the world’s largest elephant buffet.

The buffet featured over 250 elephants, showing the magnificence of the provincial culture’s relation to elephants. The elephant is also the Thai national animal symbol.

Presiding the opening of the elephant show at the Phraya Surin Phakdi Si Narong Chang Wang Monument was Surin governor Niran Kalayanamitra .

The event is held every year since 2000 and this year marked the auspicious 15th anniversary event.

In 2004, the Guinness Book of World Records recorded that the event hosted the world largest and longest elephant buffet in the world. The event has been held as a welcoming ceremony for new elephants that are joining the Surin Elephant Round-up each year.

For this year, 50 tons of fruits and vegetables were used to feed approximately 300 elephants. The food was arranged on a 500 meters long dining table, which is decorated with the world’s longest Surin traditional silk with up to 2,000 meters in length.

It is expected that the event in 2015 will even break the existing world record of the year 2004.

The number of this year’s tourists attendance in this event exceeded even last year’s number. In this year’s event, they are allowed to feed the elephants and even ride them around the city.

On 15-16 November 2014, there will be elephant performances in this year’s Surin Elephant Round-up at the Elephant Stadium. Tickets are available cost from from 40 baht up to 1,000 baht. The public can contact the Surin Provincial Governor’s Office telephone number 044-512039 for additional information.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/biggest-elephant-show-kicks-surin/

-- Thai PBS 2014-11-15

Biggest ever and no pictures?

The biggest elephant filled the frame and overlapped even using a wide angle lens so the editor decided not to include the image........

My friend Pan picks her way through the pachyderms in Surin. Not much to go on, but it's a photo.

So which was the biggest elephant

There is another spectacular elephant show at Jomtien Beach daily...where elephants put on 2-piece bathing suits and parade around with gobs of flesh hanging over the sides and tops....Stop me...I'm going to be ill...

Please do not feed these elephants...they all need to miss a meal or two...