Bangkok: Valentine’s Day is celebrated all over the world on February 14 to mark love and romance.
For people of Chonburi province in Thailand, it has an added dimension as a mass wedding ceremony is conducted on this day.
It was no different this year a
s 59 couples got married while riding elephants on Sunday at Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Reuters reports.
A band and a group of dancers led a procession of couples atop elephants, with a local official — also on an elephant – overseeing signing of the marriage licence.
One of the grooms summed up the excitement of the couples.
“I’ve been planning for a long time that if I were to sign a marriage licence one day, it must be an extraordinary event,” said 26-year-old Patiphat Panthanon, sitting beside his 23-year-old bride.
The annual mass usually attracts around 100 couples. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number was restricted this year.