Thailand has honored its national animal with an opulent "All you can eat" buffet: On March 13, the kingdom celebrates Elephant Day, also known as "Chang Thai Day". In Ayutthaya north of Bangkok, elephants were fed huge amounts of bananas, watermelons and all kinds of greens at the beginning of the week. Buddhist monks sprinkled the decorated proboscidea with holy water. The elephant has been Thailand's national animal since 1963.

The annual day of honor is intended to draw attention to the importance of protecting the animals and their natural habitat. "It was just 60 years ago that 50,000 wild elephants lived in Thailand," wrote the environmental organization WWF at the end of 2022. Today there are only 2,500 to 3,000 animals They are hunted for their ivory, their habitat is also being cleared and converted into plantations."It's getting tight for the elephants in Thailand," says the conservation organization.

The animals are important symbols of the country and its royal family. For Thai Buddhists, they embody luck, majesty, strength and intelligence. Elephant figures often stand at shrines.

Thousands of domesticated elephants live in Thailand with their mahouts (elephant handlers). In recent years, however, the exploitation of animals for tourist riding tours has decreased significantly. Visiting elephant camps, where holidaymakers can bathe with the pachyderms in the river, is more popular today.