King Power Too Strong for Audemars Piguet in 2012 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Final in Hua Hin

The 11th annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament came to a close on Sunday, in the royal seaside town of Hua Hin.

Attended by teams from all over the world as well as royals, celebrities and many other VIP guests, the tournament was a resounding success, offering up a showcase of skillful play, plenty of memorable moments and a new winning team for 2012.

Sunday’s final, which was presided over by a representative of the King of Thailand’s Privy Council, saw the King Power team triumph over defending champions Audemars Piguet, in an action packed game resulting in a 13-9 win for the Thailand team.

Both teams included star international polo players, but it was King Power’s Nattapong Praumlee, Thanasin Chuawangkham and Captain Tom Claytor who took the title at the final whistle.

The tournament was introduced to Thailand in 2001 by Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas and has grown to become one of the biggest charitable events in the country, raising funds for projects that better the lives of Thailand’s elephant population.

Saturday night’s gala dinner at the Anantara Hua Hin hosted a gathering of top dignitaries and well known celebrities, with the night’s auction raising 3.3 million THB, taking the total raised to date by the tournament to an impressive US$ 600,000. Pictures and HD video from this event can be seen in the links below.

A total of 42 street elephants took part in this year’s tournament, during which they were well fed, received essential vitamin supplements, full veterinary checks and care for the duration of the event.

Lead sponsors for the event were Audemars Piguet, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Anantara Hotels, Resorts & Spas. This year’s tournament saw the New Zealand All Blacks’ Robin Brooke, Olo Brown and Charlie Riechelmann go head-to-head with European royals Prince Carl-Eugen Oettingen-Wallerstein and his wife Princess Anna and daughter Princess Joanna.

Thailand’s most famous transgender cabaret, Tiffany Show Pattaya, added some fun and a lot of colour when they played an exhibition match against the All Blacks on Saturday, before entertaining guests at the evening’s gala dinner.

Projects receiving funding from last year’s event include helping build the first elephant hospital in Krabi in the southern part of Thailand, a THB 500,000 gantry to help lame elephants stand has been donated to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre (TECC), and 4,000 trees have been planted in Hua Hin to shelter elephant corridors from electric fencing in the area.

Projects to benefit from the 2012 tournament are currently being finalised and will include an extension of the ongoing Thai Elephant Therapy Project being undertaken in conjunction with Chiang Mai University Department of Occupational Therapy, with future clinics to include children with Down syndrome and other conditions.

Final Leaderboard for 2012 King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament:

1. King Power
2. Audemars Piguet
3. Mercedes Benz
4. Rueng Chang
5. Citibank
6. Blue Label
7. Sara Story Design
8. KASIKORNBANK
9. PricewaterhouseCoopers
10. The Nellies
11. PTT
12. Anantara Hotels, Resort & Spas

See also: HD Videos from 2012 King’s Cup Elephant Polo in Hua Hin, Thailand. AND 70 High Res Pictures from Elephant Polo in Hua Hin

The game between the New Zealand All Blacks (Price Waterhouse Coopers) and Tiffany's Show Pattaya on 15 September 2012.

See also: HD Videos from 2012 King’s Cup Elephant Polo in Hua Hin, Thailand. AND 70 High Res Pictures from Elephant Polo in Hua Hin

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