After an exciting first day of action on the Chao Praya River, the second day of the King's Cup Elephant Boat Race & River Festival kicked off with a host of glamour and festivity on land with Ladies' Day.
But all eyes were on the twelve teams vying for the coveted King's Cup Elephant Boat Race trophy. The first heat of the semi-finals was a closely fought battle between Thailand teams from the Royal Thai Navy, the Institute of Physical Education and Singburi province.
Each team of 20 paddlers fought hard for a place in the finals but it was the Institute of Physical Education team that passed the finish line with a photo finish at 48.03sec closely followed by Pradu Thong Goddess (Royal Navy) 49.04sec, Singburi 49.28sec and Pradu Ngern Goddess (Royal Thai Navy) 53.69sec. Each race takes place across 200m with four teams per heat, the first to cross the finish line wins and progresses to today's grand closing Trophy Ceremony.
The Indoor Rowing Asia Cup Tournament is also being held concurrently with teams from 10 countries including Iraq, Pakistan, Taiwan and Malaysia. Each digital heat consists of eight rowers giving their all across 1km with both female and male competitors vying for the coveted Asia Cup trophies.
One hundred percent of ticket sales from the event will be donated to elephant related projects throughout Thailand via the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation.
