Five-year-old Tod made his debut at the annual water buffalo racing and beauty festival held in Chonburi on Monday. Chonburi is a city in the province of Thailand, about an hour's drive from Bangkok.
Tod, the prized stud of food vendor and farmer Thawatchai Daeng-Ngam, was one of the stars of the event, stealing the show. His bright red ears stood out against his sleek black fur.
Once considered humble draft animals vital to Thai agriculture , water buffaloes have now become prized show animals. The festival, held at the end of the 11th lunar month to mark the start of the harvest season, celebrates these animals that once ploughed fields and transported heavy loads. Today, many buffaloes are raised for competitions or sold for meat.
The Chonburi festival featured a parade of buffaloes adorned with flower crowns, pulling traditional wooden carriages with wheels over 2 metres tall, and carrying owners and women dressed in traditional Thai attire. The event also included a 100-metre sprint race, with jockeys riding the buffaloes at full speed.
Pitun Rassamee competed with his three-year-old albino buffalo, Lookaew, which had already won several local pageants. “Although buffaloes can still work in the field, they cannot compete with machines,” said Thawatchai, whose family owns 30 buffaloes, including Tod. “Buffaloes are still important to me. It’s like what they said: ‘People raise buffaloes, and buffaloes raise people.’ They’re like family members,” he added, according to news agency AP .
The shift from farm labourers to show animals has come with the mechanization of farming and a decline in buffalo populations. Competitions have sparked renewed interest and a growing industry, supported by the government. Since 2017, Thailand has observed Thai Buffalo Conservation Day , and local authorities provide breeding assistance to farmers.
Raising a show buffalo can be intensive. On larger farms, animals are bathed daily and fed a special diet of corn, soybeans, bran, and vitamins. At the festival, caretakers splashed water over the larger, prize-winning animals, which are judged on horn size, hoof smoothness, and overall physique.
“Each year, it has become bigger and bigger,” said Papada Srisophon, assistant to a village chief near a livestock centre. “Without this activity, they won’t know what to do with their buffaloes, and they won’t be motivated to keep their buffaloes,” she told AP.
For many owners, the competitions are more than just sport or show, they reflect a lifelong bond with the animals.
Tod, the prized stud of food vendor and farmer Thawatchai Daeng-Ngam, was one of the stars of the event, stealing the show. His bright red ears stood out against his sleek black fur.
Once considered humble draft animals vital to Thai agriculture , water buffaloes have now become prized show animals. The festival, held at the end of the 11th lunar month to mark the start of the harvest season, celebrates these animals that once ploughed fields and transported heavy loads. Today, many buffaloes are raised for competitions or sold for meat.
The Chonburi festival featured a parade of buffaloes adorned with flower crowns, pulling traditional wooden carriages with wheels over 2 metres tall, and carrying owners and women dressed in traditional Thai attire. The event also included a 100-metre sprint race, with jockeys riding the buffaloes at full speed.
Pitun Rassamee competed with his three-year-old albino buffalo, Lookaew, which had already won several local pageants. “Although buffaloes can still work in the field, they cannot compete with machines,” said Thawatchai, whose family owns 30 buffaloes, including Tod. “Buffaloes are still important to me. It’s like what they said: ‘People raise buffaloes, and buffaloes raise people.’ They’re like family members,” he added, according to news agency AP .
The shift from farm labourers to show animals has come with the mechanization of farming and a decline in buffalo populations. Competitions have sparked renewed interest and a growing industry, supported by the government. Since 2017, Thailand has observed Thai Buffalo Conservation Day , and local authorities provide breeding assistance to farmers.
Raising a show buffalo can be intensive. On larger farms, animals are bathed daily and fed a special diet of corn, soybeans, bran, and vitamins. At the festival, caretakers splashed water over the larger, prize-winning animals, which are judged on horn size, hoof smoothness, and overall physique.
“Each year, it has become bigger and bigger,” said Papada Srisophon, assistant to a village chief near a livestock centre. “Without this activity, they won’t know what to do with their buffaloes, and they won’t be motivated to keep their buffaloes,” she told AP.
For many owners, the competitions are more than just sport or show, they reflect a lifelong bond with the animals.
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