- Who said reindeer are the only animals Santa’s allowed to interact with?
Christmas Eve is one busy day for Santa. He has to zoom all around the world, spreading holiday cheer and bringing presents to everybody on his Nice List, wherever they may be.
But it’s big world out there, and a sleigh pulled by reindeer won’t cut it everywhere you go. Sometimes, Mr. Claus has to use a different mode of transportation more suitable for the place he’s at.
This year, a great example of just such an occasion came from Thailand. The tropical country doesn’t exactly get a lot of snowfall, so Santa had to drop his sleigh and get on something much bigger.
He strode through one city perched on the back of an elephant. Afterwards, he decided he needed to cool off, so he decided to take a dip with some tropical fish.
Let no one say that Santa isn’t ready to do what it takes to complete his job. But let’s take a bit of a closer into Santa’s adventures in Thailand.
A Gift of Good Health
We’ll begin by addressing the elephant in the room and talking about the elephants. You see, there was a bit of a secondary motive with Santa opting for such an attention-grabbing mount.
Granted, the elephant escapade happened a bit ahead of schedule. On December 23, Santa rode through the city of Ayutthaya riding a majestic pachyderm, followed by three others and their handlers, who were also dressed in Santa outfits.
But instead of traditional presents, Santa brought Ayutthaya’s children something else. And that something was protective face masks.
The elephant-riding spectacle was part of the city’s campaign to raise awareness of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The worst outbreak yet in the country was confirmed just last weekend at a fish market near the capital city of Bangkok, so Santa’s visit is timely.
For the past two decades, elephants have visited Ayutthaya’s schools, and normally they use their trunks to hand out candy and small toys. But since 2020 has been such an exceptional year, this tradition had to change a bit as well.
“These four elephants want to represent Thai Santa Claus to encourage people to wear masks, wash their hands, and follow government instructions,” Itthi Pankhawlamai, the manager of a local elephant park, told Reuters.
Although they got masks instead of candy, the children of Ayutthaya were excited about Santa’s visit – and the elephants.
“They are funny and they are lovely. I think they are so cute,” elementary school student Laksaporn Loetpiriyakamol said to Reuters.
Pacharamon Sukhpiromsanti, a 12-year-old, was happy too, but did admit that he’d prefer to see the elephants under the usual circumstances.
“I’m a little bit excited and sad because the elephants can’t go into the school,” he said.
Swimming with the Fishes
Once he was done with his pachyderm parade in Ayutthaya, Santa traveled some 40 miles south to Bangkok. There, he donned a scuba mask, an oxygen tank, and fins before taking a plunge into an aquarium tank.
Located at a Bangkok shopping mall, Santa surprised last minute shoppers on Christmas Eve. Surrounded by corals, he hand-fed the aquarium’s swarms of angelfish while waving at children who gathered to gawk at the diving Father Christmas.
French citizen Jean Baptise Richard said that his 4-year-old daughter Maya was particularly smitten by the underwater Santa. Although she’s a regular visitor at the aquarium, Santa made her much more interested in the water tank.
“Normally, she never stays here more than 30 seconds, so today it’s already five minutes,” Richard told Reuters.
While feeding the fish, Santa posed for photos and interacted with onlookers through the tank’s glass.
Santa’s Little Helper
We’re going to let you in on a little secret, though. Don’t tell the kids, but it wasn’t actually Santa diving in the tank.
Of course, we’re not saying Santa doesn’t exist, he totally does. But the fact is that he can’t really afford to take time off to go diving on his busiest day of the year, so he had to ask for some local help.
The Santa-suited diver was actually Nichakarn Sariwong. The sea life center’s employee usually tends to the fish and cleans and maintains aquarium’s.
Come Christmas time, though, she often has to sub for Santa in the tank.
“It’s Christmas time, so I dress as a Santa for about three or four days to feed fish,” Nichakarn told Reuters.
“The kids love the show so much,” she said.
And isn’t holiday cheer what this season is about? Santa Claus has things to do and places to be on Christmas eve, so maybe we can forgive him for needing a helping hand.