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Jumbo Time

Jumbo Time

Visitors need to look beyond the famed elephants of northeast Surin Province

• Published: 28/01/2010 at 12:00 AM
• Newspaper section: Horizons

The annual elephant show is a magnet that draws tourists to Surin, but this province 457 kilometres northeast of Bangkok also has other interesting attractions they can visit anytime of the year.

''We are more known for elephants for we have been hosting elephant fairs for 49 years now,'' said Surin Governor Vichien Chavalit. ''We are also famous for silk weaving, our jasmine rice and historical sites and ancient Khmer ruins that number more than 100.''

Surin is synonymous with elephants and its association with the animals dates back to the Ayutthaya period. The province is home to the Kui ethnic people noted since for their talent in catching elephants in the wild, taming and training them for battle as well as domestic or commercial use.

Their ancestors served in the armies of former Thai monarchs and fought many a battle against the Burmese. They also helped trap royal white elephants which had escaped Ayutthaya to the northeast region, their deeds earning them honorary titles. One of them, Luang Surin Tara Phakdi, was rewarded with a promotion and declared Phraya Surin Tara Phakdi Si Narong Jangwang, equivalent to lord or town.

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 the Kui people these days are a minority in the provincial town, confined largely to Ban Ta Klang in Tha Tum district, the site of elephant shows daily.

Most of them are farmers who also raise elephants and love the animals as if they were part of the family. So at the annual elephant show that Surin hosts you expect to see some 300 elephants in action.

''The number of visitors is increasing,'' said Vichien, adding that about 600,000 came to Surin in 2009, an increase of 10% over the previous year.

He also unveiled plans to expand Highway 24, connecting Surin, from two to four lanes and extend it to Siem Reap in neighbouring Cambodia, the site of Angkor Wat, and combine the two destinations into a single package to attract tourists priming for a visit to the cradle of Khmer civilisation.

- The elephant village of Ban Ta Klang in Tha Tum district is 58km north of downtown. Take Highway 214 and follow the road sign. Contact 044-145-050 or 044-511-975 for details.

- The ruins of Prasart Sikhoraphum are located in tambon Ra-Ngaeng, 34km from Surin town on Highway 226. Orange buses plying the Surin-Si Saket route pass Sikhoraphum district. Get off there and take a motorcycle taxi to the ruins.

- For more information, call the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Surin office at 044-514-447 to 8.

The statute of Phraya Surin Tara Phakdi Si Narong Jangwang, the first lord of Surin, is located in the middle of the town. The statute, 2.2 metres high and decorated with two gigantic tusk-like concrete structures, is held in high esteem by residents of Surin.

Wat Burapharam is located on Krung Si Nai Road not far from the city hall. Built by Surin’s first lord more than 200 years ago, it also houses the town’s most sacred Buddha image. The red holders (foreground) contain ‘siam si’ fortune sticks. Shake one of the holders until a stick pops out. Every stick bears a slip with a message, prognosticating your future. The message is generally pleasant and meant to inspire hope. Next to the ubosot is a museum with red roof sheltering a statue of the temple’s first abbot, Phra Rajavudhacaraya aka Luang Pu Dun.

Almost 300 elephants roam the streets the day before the annual elephant show generally held in the third week of November. The streets are closed to traffic during morning and the show begins with a parade and a fruit buffet for elephants. Afterwards visitors can ride the animals, also trained by their mahouts in tasks such as lifting tourists by their trunk or lying down front legs crossed, inviting visitors to come sit and pose for pictures. For mahouts, it is a time to make some much-needed extra cash.

Prasart Sikhoraphum boasts not Australia and the US. only beautiful lintels, but also remarkable images of Apsara angels which resemble those found at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. These ruins are a sad reflection of the once mighty Khmer empire. Built in Bayon style around the 12th century, Prasart Sikhoraphum originally comprised five stupas dedicated to god Shiva. The lintel found at the main stupa depicts a dancing Shiva and beneath him are gods Ganesh, Brahma, Vishu and Laksmi. After the fall of the Khmer empire, Lan Chang monarchs ruled northeast Thailand and the sanctuary was turned into a Buddhist temple. Even today locals regard the ruins as sacred.

The elephant show will be held for the 50th time this year. It is part of the 12-day Surin Elephant Roundup & Red Cross Fair. During the three-hour show visitors are entertained with performances such as two teams of elephants playing football, elephant dance, replicating the role elephants on the battlefield and local performances. Held over two days, the show attracted about 25,000 spectators last year, while the 12-day fair generated 150 million baht for the province. Rooms rates usually double on the weekend of the show, as do food prices since this is a once-a-year opportunity for local operators to cash in.

Boonma Saendee, 81, is a Kui mahout and an elephant whisperer of sorts. Here he is blowing a horn, a rite performed to pray for safety of mahouts before the start of a journey. Kui people speak their own dialect when in midst of their folk in Ban Ta Klang located by the Mun River. They no longer snare elephants but have taken to farming. They grow rice and after harvest let elephants loose on the farms. Three of them, all pregnant, are seen feeding voraciously. An elephant can consume 400kg of food a day.

Silversmith Dasri Meuanprasan of Ban Khewa Sinrin, about 14km north of Surin town, is showing a traditional necklace. Called ‘pa keuam’, this string of round silver beads is popular among locals. In the past the necklace came with magic letters to protect those who wore it from harm. But today they are just popular fashion items, handmade by housewives, that along with bracelets and rings find ready buyers locally as well as abroad in countries like Sweden and Japan.

Euam Jonjaran, 45, shows how ‘mudmee’ silk, an Otop product of Ban Khewa Sinrin, is woven. Euam has been weaving silk for 17 years. It takes her about five days to finish one piece. Some housewives sell their handiwork via shops in the village, but she prefers to sell hers in front of her house.

Farmers harvest jasmine rice after which it is left to dry in the sun. Surin produces the best jasmine rice in Thailand. Every year Surin cultivates the crop on 2.62 million ‘rai’ which accounts for 75.21% of its farmland. Organic rice planting was introduced there in 1999 and since 2007 Surin has exported 100 tons of the produce to Europe, Prasart Sikhoraphum boasts not Australia and the US.

About the author

Writer: Karnjana Karnjanatawe

Position: Reporter

http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/travelnews/31889/jumbo-time