Nothing to see here. Just a bloke taking his 🐃 buffalo for a walk. As you do!
Buffaloes play a large part in Thai culture being traditionally used to pull ploughs and carts in days of yore and today, you'll still them wallowing in a mud hole or being taken for an evening stroll.
This particular guy actually gives his buffalo a wash and scrub most nights, but I haven't been brave enough to take a pic yet. He might think I'm being weird, which would be weird in itself!
The Thai word for buffalo is Kwai and its actually used as a serious insult. Call someone 'Ai kwai' and it may end badly, although not as badly as calling someone an Asian water monitor, 'Ai hia' which is so offensive, it was once a criminal offence.
Anyway, these days, buffaloes are used for, don't shoot the messenger, buffalo fighting. OK, it's not as bad as it sounds, in fact, it's rather boring. Two buffaloes are put in a field and maybe, they'll square up to each other and push each others heads. These shoving matches can take hours to complete. The loser is the buffalo that turns away first. No blood and guts, no injuries. Just natural buffalo behaviour upon which can be bet millions of baht on each fight. On Samui, these fights are a centuries old tradition and take place at secret locations, away for prying tourist eyes. (Two fields down the road from my house!).
There's also buffalo racing and yes, people ride them. There's even a national holiday each year for the Royal ploughing competition.
In Thailand, buffaloes matter, but a final word of warning. If you ever hear the words 'my buffalo is sick', it's code for 'my father needs his pick-up truck fixing'. Either way, run. Or it's going to cost you dearly.
Thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great week.
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