Giant pachyderms will show off their sporting skills later this week when the 12th King’s Cup Elephant Polo tournament kicks off in Hua Hin.
Thailand’s defending champions King Power will go head-to-head against the New Zealand Rugby All Black’s Robin Brooke, Olo Brown and Charles Riechelmann. Transgender beauty queens Miss Tiffany Thailand will also be competing in the tournament as well as performing in the evening.
To date, the event has raised almost USD600,000 for projects that help to improve the lives for some of Thailand’s elephant population, including housing for the mahouts and families, shelters for the elephants and a mobile blood centrifuge and elephant ambulance for the Thai Elephant Conservation Center (TECC).
For those not in the know, the rules of elephant polo are quite straightforward: All elephants carry a player and a mahout (elephant trainer/guide), ladies are allowed to use both hands and mallets are around two meters long. Each team is made up of three players, with matches taking place on a marked pitch of 100 meters by 60 meters, using a standard polo ball.
The four-day festival will also feature an opening parade, celebrity matches and Chang Noi Day (Children’s Day) with a baby elephant camp.
The 2013 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament will be held at Hua Hin’s Suriyothai Army Base approximately 20 minutes from Anantara Hua Hin Resort & Spa and runs from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1.
Click here for the Coconuts Bangkok feature on last year’s King’s Cup Elephant Polo.
Photo: Jeff Bond
