All set for Surin rally

The third edition of Surin Elephant Rally scheduled November 19 seeks to foster better understanding and improve the lot of elephants and mahouts. It will be preceded by a showcase of the role of the animals in Thai history.

According to Dr Alongkorn Mahannop, director of the rally the three-kilometre route from Surin Elephant Stadium to Surin Technology Institute will be laden with the pachyderm's favourite vegetables and fruits. Fifty elephants will be picked for the rally from a field of over 250.

Dr Alongkorn's staff will be on hand to teach participants about the correct way to ride elephants. Each team will comprise two passengers, an elephant and its mahout. To make the rally exciting, the teams will be required to answer a set of 10 questions. They will be competing for Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Trophy.

"I would like to urge people from all walks of life to participate in the rally because it will not only be fun but also help contain the declining number of elephants in Thailand .

"Last year we had a number of guests from Korea , Japan , the US and Europe . The event, which coincides with the annual elephant festival in Surin, is gaining popularity. The money raised goes into building a better future for elephants," explained Dr Alongkorn.

Poverty at home has driven mahouts to travel to Bangkok with their elephants. He wants to see the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and related agencies strive to get the animals off the streets and draft them in tourism-related work. Elephants are exceptionally clever and he wants their talent should be showcased to local and international visitors.

The elephant rally in Surin is just a start, he said. Reiterating the need to increase public awareness about their plight, he said the number of elephants roaming the wilds of Thailand had dwindled to 1,800. He put the number of domesticated elephants at 2,500, the majority of them in Buri Ram and Surin provinces.

He also brought to attention the alarming rate at which the elephant's natural habitat was being destroyed by human encroachment. "The Elephant Hospital has a long list of cases in which elephants were either treated for diarrhoea or for injuries sustained while begging for food in Pattaya and Bangkok .

"The purpose of the rally is to do everything under our power to secure the future of elephants and their mahouts by providing them proper livelihood," he concluded.

For further inquiries, call 02-618-7780, 02-618-7879. Part of the proceeds from Surin Elephant Rally will go to the Elephant Foundation of Thailand and the Elephant Hospital .
Bangkok Post November 2005 www.bangkokpost.com