Update: While the Chon Buri Buffalo Race festival is a week long from October 16th to October 22cnd the actual water buffalo races only take place on the last day of the festival which is Friday October 22cnd.
The 139th annual Chon Buri Buffalo Races will begin this weekend on October 16th and run through October 22cnd. The week long festival will be much more than the actual buffalo racing with a host of other events planned including Thai pop & country music concerts, traditional Thai games, Muay Thai boxing, Rattan ball competitions, numerous festival style attractions and a traditional Thai merchandise market.
The races are set up as a size based tournament that will run all week long until one Jockey and buffalo are the last standing.
Another popular addition to the festival is the Buffalo Pageant where awards will be given to best male and female buffalo, and several other pageant style competitions involving trainers, breeders, jockey’s and of course the annual “Miss Farm Maiden” beauty contest.
The festival itself originated in Chon Buri a very long time ago when buffalo use was much more prevalent and the breeding and care of these beasts was something that everyone took great pride in.
Despite the evolution of Thailand’s agricultural industry, implementing the widespread usage of tractors and heavy machinery, the buffalo still maintains a significant cultural value to the Thai people and as such the popular festival continues.
Traditionally held from the Chon-Buri district and provincial fields during the month of October, largely to mark the end of Thailand’s monsoon (rain) season, this year’s festival is no different albeit with the advent of several other additions to the festival over the years.
Perhaps the most significant point in the history of the buffalo races in Chon-Buri was the official visit of His Majesty the King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) in 1912. The revered monarch, whose reign encompassed a 15-year period from 1910 until his death at the age of 44 in 1925, was invited to the event by then Chon-Buri governor Praya Wisetruechai. To this day he remains the only member of Thai Royalty to ever visit the festival.
This year’s 139th Chon-Buri Buffalo Racing Festival will be held over the week of the 16th-22nd of October, from the Chon-Buri District & Provincial Field in Chon-Buri City. For more information on the festival, please contact the Chon-Buri Municipal Offices at, 038-287-035, TAT Pattaya’s Office at, 038-428-750, 038-428-750, 038-427-667, 038-427-667 .
I’ll be heading to the races this weekend and hopefully bringing back lots of great pictures to share. For more on upcoming events & festivals in Thailand please check out the Thailand Calender of Events.
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Dear Talen,
Buffalo me sick, can not racing. You can help and send money?
Thank you very big!
Camille recently posted..Dog eat Dogekko eat gekko
Camille,Maybe I will buy you a new buffalo and we can eat the sick one
LOL, looks a good photo op !
Wish I could find these “only in Thailand” events when I’m in Thailand …I’ll be keeping an eye on your events calender.
Mike recently posted..Thailand
Mike, there is always something going on that’s why I usually have a camera with me.
Sounds like an interesting event. A bit less harrowing than the buffalo fighting in the south of Thailand.
Paul Garrigan recently posted..There are Some Bad Thai Monks
Wow. What a fantastic photo.
‘to mark the end of Thailand’s monsoon (rain) season’
Good luck on the rain being over by this weekend
Catherine recently posted..The Top 39 Thai Words You Must Know
Talen,sounds fun, well maybe not for the Buffalo. Maybe a few “farang” will be paying a little extra for the families sick buffalo
Mike recently posted..Electrical Storm