The 50th annual Elephant Round-up was held in the provincial capital of Surin on November 20th and 21st, 2010.

It was a three-hour show repeated twice each of the two days. The shows each had 2,000 human participants and 300 elephants performing in six “acts” or processions.

The acts included stylistic re-enactments of the establishment of Surin as a town under the protection of the Siamese king and of the round-up and catching of wild elephants in the forests along the current day border of Thailand and Cambodia.

I had unfortunately not thought about booking my ticket in advance so I got seated to the far left of the Surin Elephant Show Stadium. Consequently, the few pictures I took definitely do not give full credit to how impressive the show was.

So, if you plan to go, book your ticket in advance, e.g., through the Tourism Authority of Thailand, before going to the “elephant town” of Surin.