Chonburi Buffalo Races |
on the eastern seaboard |
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I think it is fair to say that there is no shortage of interesting
and fun things to do in this part of the world and plenty of
them involve interaction with some of Thailand's many interesting
animals. Whether it is sitting with a huge tiger for a photo
opportunity, riding atop a majestic elephant, swimming with
fun loving dolphins or watching with wide eyes as a local snake
wrangler teases a fearsome cobra, they all hold enormous fascination
for animal lovers from around the world. On a rather less organized
level, you can usually find street "vendors"
wandering around Walking Street with large pythons or huge lizards
for you to hold and be photographed with, while if those kinds
of fearsome and undeniably ugly creatures are your thing then
you might also want to visit the crocodile farm. However, there
can't be anything more unusual from an "animal experience" point
of view than the Chon Buri Buffalo Races.
Buffalo have long held an important place in a traditional,
agriculture based Thai society. The fact that as well as being
a source of milk and meat, they are hard workers and able to
undertake a similar role to a cart-horse has made them an invaluable
resource amongst the innumerable farming communities here, while
their docile
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nature means that they are often also treated as somewhat of
a family pet. However, one look at the typically massive and
rather rotund shape of an adult animal tells you straight away
that they were not built for speed. Nevertheless, man's competitive
nature, and possibly his innate desire to have a small flutter
whenever he can find excuse to do so, will cause him to discover
sport and challenge in the oddest of places, a fact borne out
by this annual event.
The festival dates back some [I 100 years or so, and, so the
story goes, has its origins in a challenge between two farmers,
Chai and Kittipong. Like many others, they had travelled to
the town market at Ban Beung at the end of Buddhist Lent to
trade their goods. Having travelled there by buffalo cart, and
in the spirit of competition that was strong between the various
farmers, they got to discussing who had the better animal. One
can only guess that they may have had a strong drink or two
at the time, but the outcome was that Chai challenged Kittipong
to a race on their respective beasts. So the challenge having
been laid, a date was set, being one day before they were both
due to return home to their villages, and the course agreed,
being the square in front of the Chon Buri City Hall. Interest
grew quickly amongst the other farmers and several of them decided
to join in with the contest. Unfortunately, no-one now seems
to know who prevailed between the original protagonists, Chai
and Kittipong, nor whether either of them or one of the other
farmers ended up winning the race, but the lack of such a record
doesn't really matter because, more importantly, a new sport
had been born.
Back then, the fanners were quite used to riding their buffalo,
and many still are today, typically sitting atop them on the
way back from the fields after a hard day's work ploughing their
land. It is a good job too, because there are no saddles in
buffalo racing and it can be a precarious ride. There are regular
fallers, leaving the jockey-less racers free to run off into
the crowd causing those watching to get out of the way as quickly
as possible. However, there are no reports of any injuries and
it is all part and parcel of a fun-filled day.
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