Surin is located in Isaan province in Northeast Thailand, about 450 km north of Bangkok. People living in this area have been known as elephant catchers who are experts passed from generation to generation.
The festival has its origins in the royal hunts which were conducted in Surin Province during medieval times. The festival, in its contemporary form, was first organized in the 1960s when civil war in Cambodia and the steady decline in economic value of elephants forced the elephant handlers (mahouts) to seek occupations in the entertainment and tourism industry.
Taking place on the 3rd weekend of November every year, the festival starts on Friday morning. In the early morning, the whole herd of elephants began to walk down the street. Some elephants carry local officials, some bring their mahout and are dressed in traditional Thai costumes.
Parading through the city, the elephants head to the centre for the opening ceremony. Perhaps, this is the part that the elephants participating in the Surin festival are most looking forward to: the vegetable buffet. Their favourite fruits such as bananas, sugarcane, pineapples, corn, etc. are beautifully arranged on nearly 100 tables. On 14 November 2003, the buffet set a Guinness World Record for “largest elephant buffet” when 269 Asian elephants came together to devour over 50 tonnes (50,000 kg; 110,000 lb) of fruit and vegetables.
On Saturday, elephants are led by their mahout to the city’s football stadium, and here they will take part in a famous Thai mock battle. This is the central repertoire of the festival, with men dressed in traditional Thai army clothes from hundreds of years ago and recreating the conflict between the Ayutthaya army and Hong Sawadee.
Next, the Kuy hunters pray to the lasso and showcase their skills at capturing elephants. They display how elephants were captured by hunters working alone, and how sometimes elephant riders were used to capture other elephants.
The Surin Elephant Festival expresses the message of loving life between people and wildlife.
According to bestpricetravel.com and Wikipedia
