The indigenous residents of Surin, the Kuy, have been traditional practitioners of corralling elephants and training them as working animals.

[1][2] The modern two-day event includes a variety of shows displaying the physical prowess and skill of the animals, such as soccer games and tugs of war with the Royal Thai Army.

The venue for the event, Si Narong Stadium, has been dubbed the "world's largest domestic elephant village" by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

In Surin these elephants were rounded up, corralled and captured in hunts which were highly ritualistic and involved many mythological aspects.

[5] While the Ayutthaya Kings were in power, the elephant hunts were converted into a public spectacle and lost much of their ritualistic element.

The round-ups became a royally sponsored event where local dignitaries and overseas guests were invited to savour the spectacle.

He wrote in his diary that the king had arranged a special round-up for his foreign guests even though the real event date had not arrived.

[7] Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore visited Thailand and its provinces during 1903 and was bestowed with a royal invitation to see the round-up as an envoy of the NGS.

[8] In her printed story she related that the monarch of Siam and his entourage came to stay at the summer palace for the roundup which they sponsored.

[9] Less than 34 years after the event lost royal patronage, it re-emerged as a prominent social festival with less ritual and more flair.

This ritual includes praying at the Pakam shrine, which is sacred to the lasso, as their elders had done in ancient times and then offering pigs heads, chickens, wine, jos sticks and herbs.

When the required sign is obtained, the elders blow the hunters horn which signals that the 60 km long trek to the festival can commence.

The elephants and their mahouts arrive with at least five days to spare and spend this time roaming the streets while offering rides and practicing for their performance.

Intermingled with the elephant procession are students of local schools and their teachers in traditional dress, who are dancing and playing music.

Tame elephants which could be utilized to corral wild ones have been bred by the Kuy people since ancient times and are called Khonkies or Koomkies.