The racetrack is a 300-metre stretch of ankle deep mud. The morning sun is blindingly hot. Hundreds of spectators cling to the railings or line the turnstiles besides the track. Underneath the start banner four jockeys, who all ride bareback, are trying to get on top of their unlikely racing beasts. The pit crews continually pour water onto the animals to keep them from overheating. The buffaloes are nervous and aggressive. Riders are thrown several times before the race even starts.

In October, the town of Chonburi , halfway between Bangkok and Thailand ’s premier tourist resort, Pattaya, celebrates an extraordinary event – a water buffalo race. The event was brought to life some 130 years ago to give farmers an opportunity to meet up, celebrate and do business, trading buffaloes though the local race tradition may go back hundreds of years. By the beginning of the 19th century, the races were well established and King Rama the 5th witnessed the event in 1912.
While the buffalo as a farm animal faces extinction in Thailand , made redundant by technology, the races are an occasion to remember the animal that once provided the backbone of the agricultural economies in the region.

These days it’s a grand small town affair. A procession of buffaloes, some wooden, some real, accompanied by assorted beauty queens move through town and onto the race grounds in the morning. Thousands of people make sure a raucous carnival atmosphere prevails. There are tug-of–war and pole climbing competitions, a big stage from which local dignitaries present the farm beauty queen contest and a posse of scantily clad dancers. Coach loads of tourists from the near-by infamous resort town Pattaya travel up the coast in coaches to get their feet dirty.

Away from the stage, next to the race grounds, the real grass-roots festival takes place - the farmers organize a beauty contest for their buffaloes. Proud owners pose in front the animals with the largest, most beautiful horns. Some buffaloes have been dressed up, as in dressed up, accompanied by young farmers dressed as katoey (ladyboys).
The Chonburi Buffalo Fair is a day at the races and a country fair, which retains much of its traditional ambience, despite heavy advertising (from the starting banner to the food stalls, it’s hard to take a photo without the logo present) by a well-known soft drinks brand.

Back at the track, Som, one of the buffalo trainers, is a veteran of the festival and has fielded buffaloes for years. While pouring bucket upon bucket of water upon two of his beasts, he doesn’t mind imparting a couple of trade secrets to outsiders: “If you feed them a mix of beer and eggs, just before race time, you are a sure winner. It really gets them going.”
What the riders consume to work up the courage to jump on the back of a mad, angry and huge animal is anybody’s guess. The daredevil-jockeys are of all ages, from teenagers to weathered-looking 40 year olds. While the races look extraordinarily dangerous, the riders smile in mid-race, half way down the track, about to be thrown off and potentially trampled to death by the next beast.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand now produce a promotional brochure and press kit for the event, several TV networks lined the track, and the races are likely to become more popular, both with visitors and domestic tourists. TAT has announced that next year, farang (foreigners) will be allowed to participate.

The Chonburi Buffalo Festival, part rodeo, part race, is a fine day out in the mud, and above all a chance to experience contemporary grass roots Thailand celebrate.