Held for the first time in 2001, the Kings Cup Elephant Polo Tournament has become one of the largest charitable events in Thailand, raising more than USD600,000 for charities that better the lives of this national symbol of Thailand.
The Kings Cup Elephant Polo Tournament returns to Bangkok in 2016. One of the biggest and most anticipated events on the social calendar, the three-day event is full of social and sporting events including the monk blessing ceremony, the grand opening parade, concerts, exhibition games, competitions and of course the main elephant polo tournament.
The rules of elephant polo are similar to those of horse polo, albeit with a few important differences. The elephants carry both the player and the mahout and there are only three players on each team. Each game consists of two 7-minute “chukkas”, or halves, with a 15-minute break in between. The team with the most scores at the end of the second chukka wins the game and is awarded two points.
The welfare of the elephants participating in the tournament is paramount and strict rules ensure that the elephants are well looked after. Since the first elephant polo tournament took place, more than 30 elephants have been rescued from the streets and now live at the Anantara Golden Triangle Resort & Spa’s onsite elephant camp, part of The Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF), where they are under the care of trained mahouts and veterinarians.
In addition to hosting the annual Kings Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas' is also sponsoring Elephant Parade when in comes to Bangkok at the end of 2015. The world's largest art exhibition, Elephant Parade has featured some 800 artists creating more than 1000 elephants since its inception in 2006. Famous international supporters of Elephant Parade include; Sir Richard Branson, the Duchess of York, Evelyn de Rothschild, Goldie Hawn, Khloe Kardashian, Katy Perry, Tommy Hilfiger and Paul Smith to name but a few. The Bangkok tour will see a herd of brightly coloured elephants converge at Siam Paragon, Asiatique and Lumpini Park from 1 December 2015 to 29 January 2016. After each exhibition, a number of Elephant Parade statues are auctioned to raise money towards Asian elephant conservation.
The Sponsorship Experts, Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd.
will be supporting Anantara’s in-house team manage sponsorship and partnership marketing for Kings Cup Elephant Polo 2016. We have a number of commercial sponsorship and partnership opportunities available for brands and businesses wanting to integrate with this high profile event as well as many other opportunities to create bespoke events for your brand or business.
Paul Poole (South East Asia) Co., Ltd. is an independent marketing consultancy based in Bangkok, Thailand specialising in commercial sponsorship and partnership marketing, working with both rights holders and brands - acting as a catalyst by bringing them together and maximising the relationship.
We have packaged, sold and managed sponsorship and partnership opportunities for a wide range of rights holders and worked with many of the world’s leading brands to source and engage the right sponsorships and partnerships for them to maximise.
