The city of Surin

Surin (Thai: สุรินทร์) is a popular province in Thailand mostly because of its world famous Elephant Round Up. Surin is located in Thailand’s lower northeast (Isaan or Isan) region on Mun River Basin. The character of the province is loved by one and all. The association with elephants has become symbolic with Surin, which also features lots of Khmer ruins and produces jasmine rice and silk. Surin is definitely different from the other popular destinations of Thailand. It's not a normal touristic destinations, except for the Elephant Round up. And as you known, elephants and Thailand have a strong historic association.

History

In spite of long historical significance, there is no exact proof about the foundation of Surin. Since a long period of time, it has been told the history of Surin dates back to thousands of years BC when the area was under the influence of ancient Khmer, with it's capital in Angkor Wat. When Khmer Empire was inclined, Surin was abandoned. When the empire of Khmer was over, the chief of Mueang Thi Village, Luang Surin Pakdi moved to Ban Khu Prathai along with his people in 1763. Later, Luang Surin Pakdi was elected as the first mayor and the area is the present city of Surin. When the area was under the Khmer Kingdom, it was called a village Ban Muang Thi. When moved to Ban Khu Prathai, it as renamed as Muang Prathai Saman. Finally, during the kingdom of King Rama I, in 1786, Muang Prathai Saman was named as Muang Surin.

Location, area and population

If you want to visit Surin from Bangkok, you have to cover a distance of 457 kms. The province is encircled by Si Sa Ket to the east, Buri Ram to the west, Roi Et and Maha Sarakham to the north and Cambodia to the south. The total area covering of Surin is 8,124 square kilometers and it is divided into seventeen amphoes, which as Mueang Surin, Tha Tum, Chumphon Buri, Chom Phra, Kap Choeng, Prasat, Phanom, Si Khoraphum, Rattanaburi, Buachet, Lamduan, Sangkha, Samrong Thap, Si Narong, Khwao Sinarin, Phanom Dong Rak, and Non Narai.

Attractions

The most prominent attraction of the area is undoubtedly the Surin Elephant Round Up.

In the year of 1960, the first ever Elephant Round Up took place. Since then, Surin is serving the Thailand tourism industry and till today it attracts lots of local and abroad visitors during the event. Since the early times, Surin is serving as a home to the elephants and the locals in the city are expert at training and controling the giant animals. Surin Elephant Round Up is no less than a popular international festival as people from all corners of the globe visit the city during that time. The festival takes place around mid November every year and some of the popular events are the war elephant parade, elephant football match, elephant v/s men tug of war and some local performances as well.

Apart from the festival, other attractions of Surin include Surin National Museum, Elephant Village, Silver and Silk Villages, Prasat Si Khoraphum (sanctuary), Prasat Ban Phluang (sanctuary), Phanom Sawai Forest Park, etc.