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National Thai Elephant Day guide
Fruit banquets and blessings for elephants.
In short
National Thai Elephant Day falls every year on 13 March. Camps, sanctuaries and national parks hold monks' blessings, merit-making and long tables of fruit for the elephants. It suits animal lovers who want to understand the elephant's place in Thai culture, and the endangered status of the species gives good reason to choose ethical sanctuaries.
National Thai Elephant Day, Wan Chang Thai, honours the animal most closely bound up with Thailand's kings, wars and Buddhist faith. Camps, sanctuaries and national parks mark it with monks' blessings, merit-making and long tables of fruit laid out for the elephants themselves, who get the morning's best seats.
Behind the cheerful pictures sits a serious point. The Asian elephant is endangered, with an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 surviving worldwide, roughly 3,000 to 4,000 of them in Thailand. Over the years the day has moved from pageant towards conservation, and the best venues use it to explain how people and herds can share forests and farmland.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Thailand
Held: Every year
Type of event: Cultural Events, Community Events
Currency: Thai baht (THB, ฿)
Time zone: Indochina Time, UTC+7
Language: Thai
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Choosing an ethical elephant venue
Skip any place that sells elephant rides or shows. The day is meant to honour the animals, and the venues worth your money are the ones that use it to explain their care and conservation work.
Read a venue's own programme before you book transport. Sanctuaries describe their elephant day plans in some detail, and a programme built around feeding, blessings and talks is a good sign. One built around tricks is not.
Safety near the elephants
- Do exactly what the keepers and mahouts tell you. Elephants are large, strong and unpredictable, even ones that look calm.
- Stay back unless staff invite you closer, and move slowly when you do. Sudden noise and flashes can startle an animal in a crowd.
- Only feed what the venue provides, and keep your own snacks in your bag.
- Keep children's hands in sight and voices low near the animals.
Temple dress code and heat in March
Monks lead the blessings and merit-making at most venues, so dress as you would for a temple: shoulders and knees covered. Ask before photographing the rituals, and give the monks space as they move between the shrine and the elephants.
Carry plenty of water, and wear a wide hat and sun cream. A light long-sleeved shirt protects your arms and suits the ceremony at the same time.
What happens on the day
- Early morning
Offerings at the shrine
At Ayutthaya the day starts at the elephant shrine.
- Mid-morning
Monks and holy water
Monks chant and sprinkle holy water over the animals.
- Late morning
The elephant buffet
The tables of watermelon, corn, cucumbers and bananas are uncovered. Arrive while they are still being laid.
- Afternoon
Out of the heat
Mid-March heat is fierce, so plan the ceremony for the morning and spend the afternoon indoors.
Choosing where to mark Thai Elephant Day
There is no single national event to aim for. Each camp, sanctuary and park plans its own day, and most only publish details in late February or early March, so the first decision is which kind of celebration you want.
Ayutthaya is the crowd-pleaser. The Royal Elephant Kraal Village at Suan Phrik stages the ceremony that ends up in the newspapers, and the old capital is easy to reach from Bangkok as a day trip, though staying a night on the island lets you be there before the heat. Lampang is more about the people who work with elephants: the Thai Elephant Conservation Center hands out awards to mahouts and runs a contest among the stalls selling elephant food, so base yourself in Lampang town. Down in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Kui Buri National Park suits anyone more interested in wild herds than in ceremony, with talks on how villages and elephants share the land, habitat work and a photo contest. Pranburi is the nearest town.
Coming from Bangkok, Ayutthaya is the simplest choice; already in the north, Lampang is closer. Our Thailand trip planner helps fit any of these into a longer route.
Why 13 March was chosen and the history behind it
The observance dates from 1998, when the government set it up. It picked 13 March because that was the date the white elephant, chang phueak, was declared the national animal and a symbol of the country. White elephants have long been tied to the crown. A law of 1921 under King Vajiravudh required any elephant with the sacred markings to be presented to the king, and the 1917 national flag put a white elephant against a red background. Bangkok's official seal still carries one: the god Indra riding Erawan.
Ordinary elephants did the hard work of history. They carried kings into battle; the best remembered is King Naresuan's war elephant, which won the royal duel against the Burmese in 1592. For centuries they also dragged teak logs out of the northern forests. Early in the twentieth century Thailand kept an estimated 100,000 elephants in captivity.
Today the message has shifted towards protection. Venues now pair the blessings and merit-making with talks on habitat and on how farmers and wild herds can share the same valleys.
Getting there
Flying into Thailand
Most flights land in Bangkok at Suvarnabhumi (BKK) or Don Mueang (DMK). Check entry rules on our Thailand visa page.
To Ayutthaya
Trains from Bangkok take 80 minutes to 2 hours. From Don Mueang, the SRT Bangkok Connex stops at the airport and costs 50 baht. Cross to the island on the 5 baht ferry; the kraal is about 4 km from Wat Mahathat.
To Lampang
Fly Bangkok to Lampang into Lampang Airport (LPT). For the centre, take a Chiang Mai-bound bus from Lampang terminal; the grounds open at 08:30.
To Kui Buri
The national park is best reached by car from Pranburi.
Where to stay during the festival
We have no hotels listed in Thailand yet. The ones below are in Bangkok and Phuket, so treat them as a base for the wider trip. The next date is 13 March 2027. Book as soon as your dates are fixed, since rooms close to the festival are the first to go.
Bangkok
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$542.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
8 Rooms available
Book Now
Chiang Mai
137 Pillars House5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$400.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
5 Rooms available
Book Now
Koh Samui
Banyan Tree Samui5-star hotel
No reviews yet
from$645.00/ night
- Internet – Wifi
- Airport shuttle
- Swimming pool
9 Rooms available
Book Now
Weather and what to pack
13 March is in Thailand's hot season. Ayutthaya's March averages are a high of about 36.7°C and a low of 24.4°C, with roughly 44 mm of rain on four days (1961-1990 normals).
By late morning the heat is hard work, which is why the ceremonies start early.
Worth packing
- A wide-brimmed hat and high-factor sunscreen
- Clothes covering shoulders and knees for the monks' blessing
- Plenty of water
- Closed shoes for dusty, muddy ground
- Small notes to buy fruit for the elephants
Car hire in Thailand
Airport transfer to National Thai Elephant Day
Met at arrivals and driven door to door to Thailand.
Restaurants and food in Thailand
Places to eat in Thailand before or after the celebrations.
Yamazato
24th floor, Park Ventures Ecoplex, 57 Wireless Road, Bangkok 10330
Cuisine:KaisekiEdomae sushi
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
- Delivery
Vertigo
61st Floor, Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Road, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
Cuisine:GrillInternational
- Dine-in
- Outdoor seating
- Bar
Khao Soi Mae Sai
29/1 Ratchaphruek Road, Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand
Cuisine:Northern ThaiNoodles
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Raya Restaurant
48/1 Dibuk Road, Talat Yai, Mueang Phuket District, Phuket 83000, Thailand
Cuisine:Southern ThaiPhuket
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
Sorn
56 Soi Sukhumvit 26, Khlong Tan, Khlong Toei, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Cuisine:Southern ThaiFine dining
- Dine-in
Jay Fai
327 Maha Chai Road, Samran Rat, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok 10200, Thailand
Cuisine:ThaiStreet food
- Dine-in
- Takeaway
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Timing & weather
No. It is an official observance and a normal working day, so schools, offices and banks keep their usual hours. The celebrations happen at elephant venues.
In 1993, in Hang Chat district of Lampang province. It works with Chiang Mai University's veterinary faculty and runs an elephant hospital that treats sick, injured and elderly animals.
On a normal day 45 to 90 minutes covers the site, which usually opens from 08:30 to 16:30. On elephant day, allow a full morning to see the ceremony and the buffet.
General
A separate, much larger festival in northeast Thailand, held over a weekend usually in the third week of November at Si Narong Stadium in Surin. About 300 elephants join a procession through the city before the main show.
In 2003 the round-up fed 269 Asian elephants with more than 50 tonnes of fruit and vegetables, a feast that went into Guinness World Records. The Thai Elephant Day spreads are smaller but follow the same idea.
An indigenous group of Surin province with a long tradition of catching and training elephants. Kuy hunters still perform rituals before the Surin show, and they bred the tame elephants once used to help capture wild ones.
It protects about 969 km² of the Tenasserim Hills and since 2021 has been part of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex World Heritage Site. Wild elephants share it with gaur, leopards, tigers and Malayan tapirs.
Capturing and choosing wild elephants for the king. Hunters drove herds into the stockade with tame decoy elephants and caught them with a pole tipped with a loop. Ayutthaya's kraal moved to its present site under King Maha Chakkraphat.
Many do, with special feeds and educational sessions. Elephant Nature Park near Chiang Mai and Phuket Elephant Sanctuary have both held events in recent years.
Prices & payment
About 100 baht in 2026. Treat that as a guide for 2027 and check with the park before you go.