On 30 November 2021, Mrs. Sirilak Niyom, Ambassador of Thailand to Denmark along with Mr. Theerakun Niyom, her spouse, visited and brought fruits to treat the Thai Elephants at the Copenhagen Zoo. They were welcomed and given a guided tour by Mr. Carsten Groendahl, Chief Veterinarian. They also attended a farewell reception for Mr. Bengt Holst, Deputy Director of Copenhagen Zoo. In this occasion, Her Excellency the Ambassador of Thailand met with Director of the Copenhagen Zoo as well as the new Deputy Director and stressed the importance of Thai elephants, which symbolize the close and long-lasting relations between Thailand and Denmark at all levels from the ties between the two countries' royal families to the friendly relations between the peoples, especially as the two countries celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the first contact in 2021. She also proposed that in 2022, the embassy and the Copenhagen Zoo may join forces to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the arrival to Denmark of two Thai elephants, namely Plai Chiang Mai and Phang Bua Pha, which were given as gifts by His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej The Great and Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother to His Majesty King Frederick IX and Her Majesty Queen Ingrid of Denmark on the occasion of Their Majesties’ state visit to Thailand in 1962.

 

At present, the Copenhagen Zoo houses four Thai elephants, namely Kungrao, Surin, Pleisak, and Mun. In addition, the male elephant “Tonsak” has been on loan as a breeding bull to a Swedish zoo since 2015.