The jockey rides bareback astride the
water buffalo's rump, slaps him with a
switch and bumps along on his sprinting
steed down a 130-meter (427-foot) strip.
That's if the buffalo cooperates.
Other buffaloes, perhaps happier
wallowing around muddy rice fields than
stampeding down a race track, kick their
hoofs in the dirt at the starting line
or buck their riders before they reach
the finish.
All the while, a joking announcer
excitedly narrates the spectacle, poking
fun at the lads who can't stay aboard
their hurtling beasts.
Thousands of people Sunday flock to this
entertainment in downtown Chonburi, 70
kilometers (44 miles) south of Bangkok,
at the annual water buffalo festival.
The day's events, which also includes a
buffalo beauty pageant, a Miss Farmer
beauty contest and a comic buffalo
costume contest, perfectly exemplified a
favored Thai attitude to life — "sanuk,"
meaning fun.
Adul Boran, a 39-year-old water buffalo
jockey, has been racing for 28 years for
the good times associated with the
unorthodox sport.
"I don't get paid for it, but my friends
and I get together three days a week to
train with our buffaloes just for fun,"
he said.
The festival was started as a social
event for farmers who gathered from
around the country in Chonburi to trade
their goods.
"In the olden days, we used to race on
farm buffaloes," said Bang Supapon, 75,
who raced for 20 years until the 1970s.
"It would teach them to work faster in
the fields."
Later, farm work was mechanized, he
said, but the buffalo-running tradition
continued. Now the buffaloes don't have
the extra burden of field labor.
"We raise the buffaloes just to race
them. They don't work at all," said
Boonyeun Chamchap, as she stood under a
tent with her five racing animals to
shield them from the scorching sun.
"Our fastest one cost us 80,000 baht
(US$1,800). We definitely don't get our
money's worth, but we have a great time
racing them," she said.
The day's grand prize is 5,000 baht
(US$114), while runners-up win farm
equipment.
Boonyeun, who also has buffaloes tilling
the family sugar cane fields, said farm
buffaloes are much bigger than the
racers because of the strenuous work
they must perform.
"None of the buffaloes that race are
farm buffaloes," she said. "Nowadays,
farm buffaloes are in the beauty
pageant."
