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If someone called me a “buffalo”,
I definitely would not be happy about it. That is because in Thailand,
when someone is acting like an idiot, we call them “buffalo”
or kwai in Thai. I am not sure how this tradition started. I can understand
why a teacher calls a naughty student “monkey” but is a
buffalo really stupid?
As a city boy, I had never
really seen a buffalo close up. Of course, I had seen pictures of them
ploughing the rice paddies and pulling heavy carts. To me, they looked
like hard working animals. Maybe people call buffaloes stupid because
they are slow animals. Anyway, that is what I thought until I heard
about the buffalo racing in Chonburi! Yes, you heard right!
Of all the festivals in Thailand,
I think the Buffalo Racing is the most amazing. It all started over
a hundred years ago when there were two men arguing about whose buffalo
was the fastest. They ended up having a race between the two buffaloes.
That’s how it became a tradition. So, this year I decided to go
and see for myself.
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During
my holiday in October 2003, I went to Chonburi with my friend
to watch the famous "Baffalo Racing" festival. From
where we are, Samut Prakan, it only took us about one and a
half hours to go down there in the morning. I really have to
say that it's more than worth it to come all the way here, I
am glad I made the right decision. Before we went to see the
race, we walked pass one kind of game that is called "Climb
up the greasy poll".
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When we first arrived it
looked just like the temple fair we have in Samut Prakan. There were
bumper cars and shooting galleries and a lot more. But, there were a
few differences. I was amazed to see a boxing ring, which really interested
me. It was so exciting to have a chance to watch real boxing. This was
the first time in my life.
About fifty metres away there
were a lot of people standing around a pole watching some kids trying
to climb to the top. At first I didn’t understand why. Then I
looked up and saw some hundred baht bank notes hanging up there and
a bit higher up there was a five hundred and a thousand baht bank note.
They tried lots of different ways but each time they kept slipping down
the greasy pole!
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Some adults and kids are trying
to get to the top where the money is, it's quite funny and exciting
standing there watching them!
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It was then we heard some
cheers from behind us and we realised that the buffalo races had started.
We followed the sound of laughter and soon saw a buffalo running down
the track with a person running after it. It was really funny to see
that person running with the buffalo like they were in their own race.
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The
buffaloes here are all waiting for their round to race!
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We carried on walking towards
the starting line. I saw about six buffaloes there with some jockeys
on top and others trying to get back on. From what I saw, it wasn’t
easy at all to stay on the buffalo as there wasn’t a saddle. It
took at least ten minutes to get every buffalo ready for the race. There
were lots of false starts as the buffaloes were jumping around a lot.
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The
main highlight was on the track that is about one hundred metres
long - some buffaloes and their jockeys. I had so much fun laughing
at lots of false starts, it wasn't easy to get all the buffaloes
and the jockeys ready at the same time. That's why each race took
quite a bit of time to start.
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As the track was only about
100 metres long we decided we had time to walk down to the finish line
and take some pictures from there. We arrived just in time as the buffaloes
soon came thundering towards us. The lead buffalo was really fast and
everyone at the finishing line had to run for their lives! It didn’t
look like the buffalo was going to stop! Out of the six buffaloes that
started the race, only two of them finished with a jockey still on its
back.
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But when it started, it only took them less than a minute to get
to the other end. In fact, most of the races I saw that day, not
every buffalo made it to the end without the riders falling down
from the buffalo's bare back and had to run after their buffalo.
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After watching a few more
races, we walked over to the buffalo sheds. There must have been at
least 100 buffaloes. I chatted with one of the buffalo boys who was
cooling his buffalo down with a bucket of water. He told me that these
buffalo had been raised just for racing. None of them had ever worked
in the fields, which surprised me. Though, I suppose many farmers these
days used tractors instead of buffaloes.
I really had a fun day today.
It was worth getting up early in the morning and coming all the way
to Chonburi. I experienced a few more things that I haven’t done
or seen before. And, now I know that buffaloes are not only strong but
fast too!
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