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| Sirinya Bishop, Miss Thailand World 2015 |
BANGKOK, THAILAND -- Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas is
partnering with Elephant Parade® and top local and international celebrities
and artists to bring the world’s largest open air art exhibition, Elephant
Parade, to Bangkok.
The exhibition will see a
herd of almost one hundred 1.5 metre brightly coloured elephants – which have
been specially decorated and hand painted and will be exhibited as a herd in
key locations throughout Bangkok, starting on 1st December 2015 and ending on
January 29th 2016.
The first major Elephant
Parade was held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 2007 and has since been
exhibited in cities across the world including London, Singapore, Amsterdam,
Milan and Hong Kong. Elephant Parade Bangkok will be a first for Thailand and
the only one for the city.
The event was originally
created after founder Marc Spits and his
son Mike visited the Friends of the Asian Elephant hospital in Lampang,
Thailand, which treats sick and injured elephants.
There they saw Mosha, a baby elephant who lost her leg
after stepping on a landmine when only seven months old and was the first
elephant to receive a prosthetic limb.
She is fitted with a new leg every year,
and each time must learn to walk all over again. Mosha features in each
Elephant Parade exhibition and will have a specially Thai themed painted
prosthetic leg for the Bangkok Parade.
Artists from all walks of
life have been busy designing their elephants, each an original piece of art to
help paint a brighter future for the country’s national animal.
Famous supporters of Elephant Parade Bangkok include:
Hangover 2 star Nirut Sirichanya;
Furious 7 star Tony Jaa; Designer
Paul Smith; World Number One DJ,
Hardwell; Miss Thailand World, Sirinya
Bishop; Artists Elizabeth Romhild, Elsie Evans and Nancy Chandler, Sculptor
Gavin Fifield and a wide range of Thai celebrities and artists.
“In my life I have spent a
lot of quality time with elephants. I grew up in a mahout family and started my
movie career with an elephant as a co-star,” said Furious 7 star and Elephant
Parade Ambassador Tony Jaa. “I want
to thank all the people and organisations who take the time and resources to
ensure the safety of these intelligent creatures in Thailand and around the
world.”
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| Tony Jaa |
In February 2016 a
selection of elephants from the parade will be auctioned off at a charity gala
dinner at Anantara Siam Bangkok, with the proceeds going to the Golden Triangle
Asian Elephant Foundation who in turn will select and fund a range of
sustainable programmes that benefit the elephants of Thailand, including
Wildlife Alliance, Freeland, WildAid, Think Elephants and Thai Elephant Therapy
Project.
The Golden Triangle Asian
Elephant Foundation (GTAEF) was set up in 2006 to improve the plight of
Thailand’s elephants, and has since been diversified to include welfare
projects that incorporate broader philanthropic and cultural objectives with
unprecedented success.
William E. Heinecke, Chairman and CEO of Minor International, the parent company of
Anantara, Hotels Resorts & Spas, commented, “As a company, we are always
looking for like-minded partners who share our true passion in saving the Asian
elephant and Elephant Parade has long been known for its elephant conservation
efforts in Thailand, which is why we feel this partnership is the ideal fit.
“The more awareness that
is raised on the plight of domestic and wild elephants in Thailand the better
the chances we have for their survival. I can’t think of a better way to raise
awareness than bringing the largest open air art exhibition in support of Asian
Elephants to Bangkok in 2015.”
“Elephant Parade is very
proud and excited to team up with such a great company as Anantara and The
Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation. We share the same commitment and
values in helping save the Asian elephant, ultimately from extinction. We’ve
travelled all over the world with Elephant Parade and now it feels like we are
coming home, with our upcoming event in Bangkok. I am sure this exposition will
be our most exciting and colourful one to date,” Mike Spits, Elephant Parade® Founder.
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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| Mike Spits and Friend |
From lush jungles to
pristine beaches and legendary deserts to cosmopolitan cities, Anantara
currently boasts over 30 stunning properties located in Thailand, the Maldives,
Bali, Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Mozambique, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates;
with future properties to open China, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Laos and Oman.
For more information on Anantara
Hotels, Resorts & Spas, please visit www.anantara.com.
and Twitter: Anantara_Hotels
Global Hotel Alliance (GHA) is the world´s
largest alliance of independent hotel brands. GHA currently includes 24 brands
such as Anantara, Art Series, Atura, AVANI, Doyle Collection, First, Kempinski,
Individual Collection, Leela, Lungarno Collection, Marco Polo, Mokara, Omni,
Pan Pacific, PARKROYAL, Per AQUUM, QT, Rixos, Rydges, Shaza, Tangram, Thon,
Tivoli and Ultratravel Collection, encompassing over 400 upscale and luxury
hotels with over 100,000 rooms in 63 different countries. www.gha.com
For a complete
copy of the company’s news release, please contact:
Hwee Peng Yeo
Vice President, Asia
Markets
Glodow Nead Communications
San Francisco • New York •
Singapore • Shanghai
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Tower, 3 Temasek Avenue • Singapore 039190
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