Jumbo Time :Visitors should look beyond the famous elephant from the northeastern province Surin

The annual exhibition of elephants is a magnet that attracts tourists in Surin, but this province, 457 km north of Bangkok has other interesting attractions can be visited at any time of year.


''We are best known for the elephants, because we have been organizing exhibitions of elephants for 49 years,''said the governor of Surin Vichien Chavalit. ''We are also famous for silk weaving, our jasmine rice and historic sites and ancient Khmer ruins that the number over 100.''

Surin is synonymous with elephants and their association with animals dates back to the Ayutthaya period. The province is home to people since ethnic Kui known for their talent in the capture of elephants in the wild to domestic and their training in combat as well as domestic or commercial.

Their ancestors have served in the armies of former Thai kings and fought many battles against the Burmese. They also assisted the Royal White Elephant trap that had escaped Ayutthaya, north-east, their actions earn the honors. One of them, Luang Surin Phakdi Tara, was rewarded with promotion and Phraya Surin said Tara Phakdi If Narong Jangwang, equivalent to sir or a city.

Since the Rattanakosin period when King Rama I moved his capital to Bangkok, the province has been called Surin, named after its first governor, but people today Kui are a minority in the town of the province, mostly limited to Ban Ta Klang district of Tha Tum, the site of the elephant show everyday.

Most of them are farmers who raise animals like elephants and also as if they were part of the family. Thus, the annual emissions of elephants Surin guests expect to see about 300 elephants in action.