The celebrity matches yesterday featured ESPN's Justin Sampson and Thai celebrities Sunisa "Vicki" Jett, her brother Bryan Jett, Benjawan Ardner, Jate Sopitonstorn and Channel 11 news anchor Sikanya Saktidej Bhanubandh. The Thai celebrities took on a crack team from Chivas Scotland, who proved too good for the local players, and after much trumpeting - mainly by the elephants - the Scotland team won 3-1.

"This is more challenging than rugby," said ESPN star Sampson. "It takes a lot of getting used to. The trick is to find the fastest elephant."

When the main competition kicks off in Chiang Rai on September 4, 12 teams will be playing for the top prize, including some tough former All Black rugby team members from New Zealand - Bernie Frazer, Steve McDowell and Frano Botica.

Hosted by the Anantara Resort Golden Triangle, the King's Cup Elephant Polo tournament is now in its fifth year and has gone from a small two-day event with six teams to a week-long extravaganza, which last year featured 16 teams from three continents.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand supports the event and ranks it as the sixth largest on the Thai tourism calendar.

And some of the main beneficiaries of the tournament are the elephants themselves, with US$140,000 (Bt5.3 million) being raised so far for the National Elephant Institute, which provides medical care, sustenance, employment, welfare and mahout training for Thailand's elephant population.

Alan Parkhouse

The Nation