Pattaya - Elephant Day celebrated at Nong Nooch
Elephant Day celebrated at Nong Nooch
March 13 in Thailand is celebrated as Elephant Day and on Saturday the Nong Nooch Gardens tourist attraction held a commemoration ceremony which was addressed by Khun Nitti, the Director of the Tourist Authority of Thailand.
The usual speeches were followed by a brief religious ceremony, a traditional dance by a troupe of dancing ladies and the sprinkling of scented water on elephants and assembled guests by a man wielding a small piece of shrubbery.
Once the formal ceremonies, involving ribbons and pairs of scissors were completed, the elephants performed a few tricks to the delight of onlookers.
These included a basketball demonstration, modern art painting and hacking away at a giant cake with a rather large knife.
After all this exertion the elephants were permitted to binge away on bananas and other culinary delights as reward.
The elephant is the national animal of Thailand and Elephant Day was officially designated in May 1998 by the government.
It is now estimated that Thailand’s elephant population has dropped to not more than 4,000, down from an estimated 100,000 at the beginning of the twentieth century.
YouTube - Nong Nooch Tropical Garden
