Overview

• The annual harvest-season festival in Chonburi concluded Monday with parades, buffalo beauty pageants, and 100‑metre sprint races ridden by jockeys.
• Mechanization reduced buffaloes’ farm roles, but contests have revived interest through Thai Buffalo Conservation Day (since 2017) and local breeding support.
• Caretakers prepare contenders with daily baths and diets of corn, soybeans, bran, and vitamins, with judging focused on horn size, hoof smoothness, and overall physique.
• High-value sales underscore the market’s rise, including an albino buffalo that sold for 18 million baht in 2024, while many animals outside the show circuit are sold for meat.
• Participants and local officials say the festival grows each year, providing incentives for farmers to keep raising buffaloes, according to village assistant Papada Srisophon.