The
tourist attraction’s Songkran Festival began early April 13 with 19
elephants giving alms and dried foods to nine monks from area temples.
Pratchaya Kerdthong
Nong Nooch Tropical Garden celebrated Songkran with
Buddhist offerings, a parade and a birthday party for one of its 4-ton
water-shooting elephants.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome opened the tourist attraction’s
Songkran Festival April 13 with 19 elephants giving alms and dried foods to
nine monks from area temples. Famous statues of Buddha from those same
temples were also provided for both pachyderms and tourists to sprinkle
water on.
A Songkran parade followed the ceremony with more than 40
elephants marching with tom-tom drummers and flower-covered floats.
The celebration reached its finale with a birthday cake
for Songkran, a 3-year-old elephant born on that day.
Songkran also saw the start of Nong Nooch’s Flower
Blossom Festival, featuring elephant shows and a flower parade featuring
beautiful Miss Songkran pageant contestants.
Elephants perform Rod Nam Dam Hua, bathing the Buddha statues.
Let the
fun begin. Those little squirt guns, no matter how big they seem,
are no match for an elephant’s trunk.
