The sounds of proud trumpets, squeaks, chirps and rumbles are likely to drone out the harmonious voices of monks today during the traditional blessing of the Golden Triangle's gentle giants on National Thai Elephant Day, when a ten day old baby boy named Nong Sam is shown off to the world for the first time and will no doubt steal the limelight from the customary age old proceedings.
Born on March 3rd at the world famous Elephant Camp at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort outside Chiang Rai, the 85 kilogram baby elephant stands 84 centimetres tall at the shoulder and measures 129 centimetres from forehead to tail. Whereas elephants normally give birth in the night, this healthy boy was born at 11.15am to forty-five year old Boon Jan, her fifth 
son.
son.
He was nicknamed by his mahout (elephant carer), as is tradition, meaning "three" in Thai and alluding to his birth date on the third day of the third month. Being a Garieng elephant, Nong Sam will choose his own formal name at the age of three in a special ceremony involving bits of paper wrapped around sugarcane.
According to John Roberts, Anantara Resorts' Director of Elephants, Nong Sam was the fourth elephant born at the Elephant Camp and the seventh baby raised there. "The Elephant Camp was set up in 2003 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. Since 2006 the camp has operated under the auspices of the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation (GTAEF)."
National Thai Elephant Day takes place every year on March 13th. The aim of the day is to draw attention to the elephant which is the national animal of Thailand and plays an important part in culture, religion and tradition.
A weeklong celebration at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort kicked off with more than 60 children and novice monks from local orphanages and schools invited to the resort to learn about the importance of elephant conservation and affording them a rare opportunity to meet the elephants up close and personal. The festivities conclude with an exclusive Elephant Parade Painting Workshop and a charity brunch to benefit GTAEF, on Saturday, March 15th.
Guests can visit Nong Sam at the resort in his new elephant nursery sponsored by Citibank. To follow Nong Sam's progress on social media please visit Anantara Resorts on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/anantara or on Twitter Anantara_Hotels John Roberts' Elephant Trails blog http://elephant-tails.anantara.com/
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