Elephant Santas bring gifts and joy to children on Christmas Eve in Thailand

Dec 29, 2015 Still in the festive mood, Thai elephants, dressed as Santa Clause, recently brought gifts and joy to children in the central Thailand province of Ayutthaya.

The mahouts, also dressed like Santa Clause, led four elephants into Jirasat Wittaya middle school along with a cart full of dolls and snacks.

12-year-old Pitchayapa Sarittham, one of the lucky children at the school to receive a present from an elephant said:

“I am happy… I like it but it makes such a loud noise,”

Another kid, Siri Sukphan, said:

“Elephants are so fat. They are cute… I’m very happy,”

According to Thailand’s Elephant Conservation Center, the country currently boasts of about 2700 domesticated elephants and another 2,000 in the wild.