Story: Elephants on Parade

Every year in late November a gathering of massive proportions takes place in the otherwise sleepy town of Surin, Thailand. Hundreds of elephants and their mahouts from all over the kingdom gather to parade, perform, and feast. It is a mainly local festival, but tourists are more than welcome.

The main event is always held on the third Saturday of November, but things get interesting a few days before. On Thursday night there is a street party near the Phraya Surin Phakdi Monument complete with food vendors, traditional dance, a float competition, and fireworks. A few of the guests of honor make brief appearances, but most are resting up for the big parade the next morning.

On Friday, the parade starts by the train station and winds its way down the main road to the Phakdi Monument where a buffet feast of fruits and vegetables await the hungry stars of the show. We arrived early to try and catch the elephants and mahouts getting ready, but were disappointed to only see around twenty specimens lumbering about. Surely there must be more, we thought. We were told that over three hundred would be participating, but where do you hide that many elephants in such a small town? A little skeptical, we made our way down the parade route to secure a good viewing position. We sat down by the main traffic circle and patiently waited.

Locals started to appear and line the road and one man came by and dumped a sack of sugarcane next to us. Soon the elephants, with their mahouts on top, began lumbering past until the road quickly swelled with a mass of plodding pachyderms. Hundreds of elephants of all sizes were streaming past interspersed with musicians and parade floats. Mothers began prodding their children to hold out the provided sugarcane to outstretched trunks. We tentatively held some out and it was immediately snatched by a multi-ton behemoth. Our heart rates quickening, we started to make our way down the parade route. When the sidewalks became too crowded we picked our way along the street, walking briskly amongst the towering giants. What started out as an orderly parade seem to quickly disintegrate into some sort of controlled chaos as the onlookers accompanied the elephants down to the waiting feast. Some elephants stopped briefly to accept a watermelon from a delighted child or suck down a barrel full of water, but most knew the bounty that was to come. Some tourists climbed aboard ones outfitted for a ride, while we were in awe of darting between them. When we all finally reached the tables piled high with pineapples, watermelon, cucumbers and sugarcane everyone went wild - the elephants scooping heaps of roughage into their pink mouths and the people handing it over in a frenzy of glee. We were particularly concerned with the amount that one baby was consuming and wondered what an elephant belly ache must feel like. After a quick ride atop one of the satisfied participants we found one young elephant working a hula hoop with his trunk. He would accept bills or coins for his feats and would bow or do a trick depending on how much you gave him. As things wound down we explored the rest of town, which included a lively outdoor food market.

Saturday was the day for the elephants to work off their previous gluttony and wow the crowds with their skills. On the massive parade grounds they painted pictures, threw darts, played soccer, and showed their strength in a people vs. elephant tug-of-war. Hundreds of performers joined them for historical story reenactments including a full scale battle with cannons and pyrotechnics that blasted dirt over the crowd and resulted amusingly in small grass fires. When some of the elephants came to get treats from the crowd, a group of older Thai ladies sitting next to us had an entire plastic bag full of their own lunch snatched from them. Luckily the elephant knew not to eat the plastic bag and the ladies had a sense of humor.

It is bewildering that more tourists do not attend this unique festival, but it is not well advertised and some advance planning is necessary. Not being a standard tourist destination the limited choice of accommodations book up fast, although we were lucky enough to score a room only a few weeks in advance. The few local expats will talk of the town being overrun by tourists during the festival week, but foreign faces were sparse in the crowds of Thais. You can reach Surin by train or bus from Bangkok and the Saturday show is repeated on Sunday. Shaded “VIP” seats are available for 500 baht ($15) and well worth it. A good resource for booking accommodation and tickets is Martin, owner of the Farang Connection Restaurant in Surin, Thailand.