Ban Ta Klang Elephant Village

Ban Ta Klang Elephant Village is a traditional Kui (Suay) settlement in Krapho Subdistrict, Tha Tum District, Surin Province, northeastern Thailand. Known as the largest elephant village in Thailand, it is home to nearly 200 elephants living with their mahouts. The village functions as a living cultural center and elephant study site, featuring an elephant museum, daily shows, and the nearby Elephant World project, preserving centuries-old human-elephant traditions.

Visitors can expect a rural village setting where Kui families live alongside elephants on sandy, open ground near the Mun River. The site includes family homes with elephant shelters, an Elephant Museum displaying Kui culture and training equipment, a showground for daily elephant demonstrations, and the adjacent Elephant World area. Visitors can observe elephants up close, watch shows, learn about mahout traditions, visit the museum, and explore the village on foot or by guided tour.

Ban Ta Klang is the historic center of the Kui (Suay) people, an ethnic group with centuries-old expertise in capturing, training and caring for elephants. Traditionally elephant hunters and trainers for royal and logging use, the Kui settled here with their elephants. The village was later developed as an Elephant Study Center to preserve this heritage and support mahouts and their elephants after logging bans.

The village is the cultural heart of Kui elephant tradition in Thailand, representing the deep bond between Kui mahouts and elephants passed through generations. It preserves Kui language, rituals, elephant-handling knowledge, and community lifestyle, and serves as a living museum of Isan's human-elephant culture.