Thailand: Tourists on elephants in Ayutthaya Historical Park

The Asian or Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus) is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Subcontinent and Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Asian elephants are the largest living land animal in Asia. There are around 2,600 elephants living in Thailand, with the majority being domesticated.

Ayutthaya (Ayudhya) was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1351 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese (Annamese), Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the city walls. In the sixteenth century, it was described by foreign traders as one of the biggest and wealthiest cities in the East. The court of King Narai (1656–1688) had strong links with that of King Louis XIV of France, whose ambassadors compared the city in size and wealth to Paris.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia