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| King's Cup Elephant Polo |
Anantara Hotels, Resorts and Spas has announced the dates
of this year's King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament.
The event will be held in the Thai royal seaside town of
Hua Hin from August 28 -September 1 and promises to have more nail-biting
action both on and off the field.
The charity event, now in its twelfth year, has raised
almost AU$600 000 to help Thailand's elephants. It has gone from a small
two-day affair in 2001 to one of Thailand's major charity events. Last year's
tournament featured 12 teams encompassing over 40 players, including German
royals, Prince Carl-Eugen Oettingen-Wallerstein, his wife Princess Anna, the
New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team and Thailand's famous transgender cabaret
team, Miss Tiffany's.
Fundraising from last year's event has been donated to a
number of projects in Thailand. The first is to support research and clinics
using elephants in therapy sessions for children in Thailand living with
autism. Last year saw the research published and planned continuation of the
free clinics for Thai children.
In February the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation
(GTAEF), based at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort and Spa, will host a landmark
'positive reinforcement training' workshop with traditional elephant trainers
from throughout South East Asia, guided by world renowned trainer Dr Gerardo
Martinez and featuring guest speakers from Thai universities. This will be the
first time positive reinforcement training for elephants will be introduced and
discussed on a large scale in the range states.
GTAEF's work with Thailand's wild herd has continued with Human Elephant
Conflict mitigation and partial sponsorship of the Wild Elephant Counting Week
in Kui Buri Royal Project area.
"One of the main aims of this event is to take as
many elephants off the streets of Thailand as possible during the event. Last
year we were able to take over forty street elephants and make sure they were
properly fed, and received vitamins and veterinary care while at the
event," said Mr. Bill Heinecke, CEO Minor International and owner of
Anantara. "We must never forget the true meaning of this event and that is
to raise awareness and as much money as possible towards the conservation and
welfare of Thai elephants."
For hundreds of years throughout Thailand, people would
leave a jar of water outside their house to provide refreshment and extend a
welcome to the passing traveller.
Anantara is taken from an ancient Sanskrit word that means 'without
end', symbolising this sharing of water and the heartfelt hospitality that lies
at the core of every Anantara experience.
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| King's Cup Elephant Polo |
From lush jungles to pristine beaches and legendary
deserts to cosmopolitan cities, Anantara currently boasts 20 stunning
properties located in Thailand, the Maldives, Bali, Vietnam, the United Arab
Emirates and China; with future properties to open in Thailand, China, Laos,
Mauritius, Sri Lanka, UAE and Oman.
For more information on King's Cup Elephant Polo, please visit
For more information on Anantara Hotels, Resorts &
Spas, please visit www.anantara.com Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/anantara and Twitter:
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