Mammoth celebrations in Surin

Celebrated in November each year, the festival of Thailand's national animal brings together tourists from all over the world and more than 2000 Thai performers to demonstrate their devotion to the great pachyderms.

Seated in a Romanesque grandstand, we watch the ceremony unfold before us. Great plumes of smoke from the cannon and the slapping of war drums behind the arena signal the beginning of the re-enacted battle of the kings of Ayutthaya.

A mottled Asian elephant stretches its gait to a canter, ploughing past the soldiers weighed down by their blood-red armour that represents their Gouy tribal colours. The thud of cannon fire camouflages the battle cry of the opposing Khmer soldiers, swords raised above their green tunics as they charge in full Braveheart style along the dusty ground.

Watching on with other bemused tourists, the clink of hundreds of duelling swords resonates through the arena and the sour metallic tang of gunpowder lifts through the stands. Thailand is meant to be a place of tuk-tuk tours, pad thai and beach umbrellas; it seems the realities of its eastern reaches are quite different.

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