TOURISM INDIA MARCH 2019 Tourism India January 2019 IA | Page 43

A
nantara Hotels and Resorts
reveal plans for the first
charity-driven celebration of
Thailand’s majestic national animal
- the elephant. From the banks of
the mighty Mekong to the River of
Kings, this week-long celebration will
link the natural and the urban in two
distinctive and quintessentially Thai
locations. Kicking off on March 13,
2019 at Anantara Golden Triangle,
guests can rub elbows with the
gentle giants in their natural habitat,
before joining the Elephant Boat
Race and festival in Bangkok next to
the Anantara Riverside for electric
competition on the water in the form
of elephant boat races and a weekend
of enormous entertainment from
March 15. Watch from the banks
of the Chao Phraya as international
teams participate in the age-old
cultural tradition of dragon boat
racing, paddling unique elephant
themed and designed boats on the
river. The spirit of elephants will shape
the festival, from the jungle where
visitors can get up close and personal
with the pachyderms, to Bangkok’s
buzzing waterfront where an artistic
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