Chonburi - Buffalo Racing

The annual buffalo races are held in the 11th lunar month – normally in October. This year, it was on October 22nd. The races are held in front of the municipal office in the provincial capital.

The races are sprints – mad 100-yard dashes that somewhat resemble stampedes – with the riders pushing their beasts of burden forward in the hopes of winning cash rewards with beasts of burden competing in large, medium and small sizes.

There were also a beauty pageant for buffalos.

Of course, no such event is complete without a market, a fun fair, some folk music concerts and a beauty pageant. Who wouldn’t want to be crowned as Miss Buffalo?

The week featured slingshot shooting, kite competitions, slimy bamboo post-climbing, cock fighting and Muay Thai boxing filling the playbill.

Oarfish Myth

This picture used to be a very common picture in farang bars in Thailand showing a huge fish supposedly caught in the Mekong River by GI Joes during the Vietnam war.

In reality, the fish – a giant oarfish – was found / caught at the US Navy SEAL training center on Coronado Island, just off the coast of San Diego, California.