After the merit making ceremony at Wat Sangkat Rattanakhiri we drove to the other side of town for the parade.
Along Tha Chang Road we came across about a dozen shrines that had been setup outside local businesses. All of them were decorated with elephant tusks which seemed puzzling at first.
I later found out that these tusks were originally used in a Chinese festival that took place every three years. Then someone thought that it would be a good to bring them out for this festival too. This is a picture of the Governor of Uthai Thani paying respect at one of the shrines.
Elephants actually have a history here. During the Ayuthaya period they were sent here to train in times of war. Tha Chang is where they would come to bathe in the river.
- Posted from my iPhone
better than KFC and McDonalds lol but the name...
Nancy Murray
31/10/2010 at 9:14 am
Enjoyed your pics of elephants and comments. See The Night the Elephants Cried – A Story of the Tsunami, my just published ebook at http://www.bangkokbooks.com The novel is based on elephant rescues during Indian Ocean Boxing Day tsunami. I think you’ll enjoy this tribute to elephants and the human spirit.
Best,
Nancy