BANGKOK: Elephants are Thai­land’s national animal, so it’s only natural that King Mongkut in 1861 offered to send a pair to the United States as a gift of a friendship that has endured 200 years. In his 1861 letters, Mongkut offered the elephants after learning they were not native to America. He addressed the letters to then-President James Buchanan “or whomever would become president” with elaborate paragraph-­long salutations. Lincoln was already president by the time the letters arrived, a year later. He penned a reply where he simply addresses the king as “Great and Good Friend”.

Source: The Star March 24, 2018 22:30 UTC