In Ban Tha Klang, a small village some 60 kilometers from Surin, elephants have been raised and trained for ages by their mahouts (trainers), members of the Kui tribe, originally from Cambodia. Famed for capturing, domesticating, and training wild elephants, the Kui have taught the animals to become providers, work companions, and lifelong friends. In Kui families, it is normal for elephant training skills to be passed from father to son, and the boys often grow up with baby elephants that are the offspring of animals that have been in family through generations. There is thus a very deep bond between the men and the elephants. It is from Ban Tha Klang that the majority of the hundreds of elephants that grace Surin’s roundup come.