Elephant Round-up Festival
In November we were invited to check out the Elephant Round-Up Festival in Surin Province.
The ethnic Kuy people from this area were historically elephant hunters and specialized in capturing wild elephants and domesticating them to work and fight in war. Today this might seem barbaric, but looking back at a time before modern machines it is pretty understandable. It must have taken incredible bravery to capture a wild elephant with only primitive tools.
We know there is a lot of controversy around elephant tourism and in the past we’ve generally avoided it and recommended against it. At the same time there is no denying that elephants play an important part in Thai culture and history and it seems fair to have a festival that celebrates that.
What do you guys think?
