A trunk, rather than a red nose, is what Rudolph would need to join a herd of elephants helping Santa Claus deliver presents in Thailand.
Mahouts dressed as Santa led the gentle giants to a school in central Thailand to hand out Christmas presents to about 2 000 students this week, part of an annual tradition.
Students lined the school courtyard and hall while the elephants approached slowly and unfurled their trunks to give out balloons, toys and dolls.
US freeze
Earlier, US military officials assured anxious children the arctic blast and snowstorm that is wreaking havoc on US airline traffic this week will not prevent Santa Claus from making his annual Christmas Eve flight.
“We have to deal with a polar vortex once in a while, but Santa lives year-round in one at the North Pole, so he’s used to this weather,” dead panned US Air Force Master Sergeant Ben Wiseman, a spokesman for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which tracks the yuletide flight.
For 67 years, NORAD, a joint US-Canadian military command based at Peterson Air Force base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has provided images and updates on the legendary figure’s worldwide journey along with its main task of monitoring air defenses and issuing aerospace and maritime warnings.
