A group of locals and tourists in Thailand’s ancient Ayutthaya province found themselves embroiled in a colourful water fight with a group of elephants, kicking off this year’s Songkran water festival.
The elephants, painted with flowers from trunk to toe, showed no mercy to children and adults alike as they drank up water and sprayed them in the scorching heat.
The government has asked organisers of the annual water festival celebrations this year to reduce the amount of water used.
One of the organisers said this was possible by training the elephants to aim more carefully at their targets and suck up less water.
Tourists gathered around, some armed with water buckets and others with cameras to capture the moment.
Songkran is also widely observed in other Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
