Surin Elephant Festival

(Also Known as surin elephant festival, Thailand elephant festival, Thailand festival)

When The third Saturday of November. Every year since it’s inception in 1960 by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The Surin Festival lasts 2 days

Where The Elephant Stadium in Surin. The North-East of Thailand near Cambodia, known to the locally as I-San. Once part of the powerful the proud Khmer Empire. Or to put it in Thai man terms “Thanon Kotchasan, Amphoe Muang Surin”.

The Elephant Roundup This is when over two hundred of the elephants are assembled to show off their skills they have spent the year perfecting. These elephants are larger then their domestic counterparts and they also have been trained very differently.

Elephant Roundup Performances include

• Folk dances cultural performances

• Recreating old-time elephant hunts

• Demonstrations of intelligence

• Feat of strength

• A war elephant parade

• Elephants playing soccer

• Elephant races (they can reach speeds of 40kmph)

• Elephant v’s Man - The ultimate tug of war (70 men)

• Elephants playing twister (ok I lie but the rest are true !)

Where to Stay Surin is relatively small with a population of 150,000. Hotels and hostels are limited and I have heard of many tourists say that the local hotels cannot cope and some tourists go to nearby Korat for hostels and hotels. The Surin elephant Festival is almost getting too big for the town.




Where to drink The best nightlife in Surin is the Soi Cola area. There are quite a few expat bars in town.

Surin Elephant Festival History Local people are renowned for their ability to capture, tame & train wild elephants from the forests of neighbouring country Cambodia. However due to civil war in Cambodia these areas are inaccessible. Due to this the elephants numbers are in decline in Cambodia as they require more help. With a limited number of elephants in Surin locals are forced to train the elephants and tour the country providing shows to make a living.

The Elephants Breakfast A parade of elephants walks the length of the town bearing gifts of food and tourists. This procession starts at the train station and finishes at the roundabout. Airports Fly Bangkok to Chiang Mai with Thairways, Nokair, Bangkok Airways & Airasia all fly direct from Bangkok to Chiang Mai as well as through destinations in Thailand. This is a good option if you are only flashpacking for 2 weeks or so. It takes a little over an hour. then take a bus to Surin from Chiang Mai.

Surin Package Deal The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have organized overnight trips to Surin for the festival. It costs about US$150, you get a first class train ride from Bangkok - including a sleeper - , entrance to the elephant show, a trip to a nearby silk-weaving village, some folk dance demonstrations and great grub including v. hot local Thai dishes.

Getting Around Taxi and hire cars and tuk-tuks are all on hand m favourite mode of transport in Surin was by renting a moped . there are also motorbike taxis (no not tuk-tuks)

Weather November is after the rainy season in Thailand. Expect lovely weather, not too humid.

Festival Pig Fact African elephants have larger ears then Indian elephants.

The awesome actor Tony Jaa from the movies Ong Bak & The Warrior King is from Surin. The Surin Elephant Festival features in the start of the Warrior King movie.

People in the elephant centric elephant village of Ban Ta Klang, Tambon Ka Pho, Tha Tu, have an ordination ceremony. They will ride a pilgrimage of elephants to the Chao Pho Wang Thalu Shrine, then cross the Mun river back to the ceremony at wat Chaeng Sawang. This ceremony occurs on the 13th – 15th days of the waxing moon (mid May every year).

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