Thread: Saving Water Buffalo from Slaughter

I realise this may not be the "correct" place to put this topic...but perhaps someone here will have some information about it. If not, don't worry.
On Sunday my Thai wife went to a local Wat here in Bangkok. She made a donation to a program they were either running, sposoring, or hosting. The purpose of the program, as she explained it, was to collect donations for the purchase of Water Buffalo to be donated to poor farmers upcountry.
The backgrund is that many Thai farmers who can afford it are switching from Water Buffalo to tractors to plow and till their fields. At the same time there are also poor farmers who can;t aford to buy or keep a Water Buffalo...much less to purchase a tractor for their fields.
So this program apparently is to buy unwanted Water Buffalo and donate them to poor farmers. This also keeps the Water Buffalo from being sold and slaughtered for food or pet food.
I would appreciate anyone with information on this project posting it here.
Is this an initiative of the local Wat here in Bangkok, or is it a government or even possibly Royal supported project?
Any iformation about the project would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

Think of the poor buffalo...

Tractors do not shit. Bufffalos do. Rice yield with tractors goes down as there is no fertiliser in diesel fumes, but plenty in Buffalo shit.

Sometimes have to look out for the male variety though. Bull shit is very difficult to understand

If some farmers are updating to tractors then shouldn't there be an abundance of water buffalos in the bush ?

Shouldn't they be donating them to poor BG's families instead? Every other bird I meet is crying because their family needs a new water buffalo. It's a national tragedy.

My Missus knows nothing about it, although she said you can donate money in the Wat for feed for the Buffalo's, 200, 300 or 500 baht

How much did yours donate ?

We use a rice tractor in our fields. I have never heard of donating to save a water buffalo. Most of the people that own them in Isaan treasure them highly and once again I have never heard of anyone eating one. Temples these days are too busy into frivelous donations. I just took 3 Americans to a temple and the head Buddha harassed us for over an hour to donate the full amount to build 16 toilets on the side of the temple they just built a huge Chinese shrine on. If you want to donate, find some poor family and give to them directly. At least you have peace of mind it is doing some good.

Even though I started this topic...I did some research on the net and I found a NGO that does have an offfice here in Thailand...Chiang Mai I believe.
They do a lot of work with the Thai Hilltribe groups up inthe northeast of Thailand as well as in other countries in Southeast Asia. It is I believe called the Hieffer Project although I am writing this from memory and don't have the their internet page in front of me right now. You could do a Goggle or Yahoo search on them if you're interested.
One of their projects is to provide animals for farmers that the farmers can breed for young. The farmer gets to keep the offspring and then passes on the adult mother to another farmer. The NGO provides different types of livestock to the farmers such as pigs, ducks, and ...wait for it...Water Buffalo. On their website they don't mention where they get the Water Buffalo they originally give to the farmer as breeding stock, but I'm guessing it is from a Thai source.
I'm not sure if this is what my Thai wife was talking about... a group buying Water Buffalo to keep them from slaughter...or not. However, this does does seem to fit with what she told me, and I can see a local Wat collecting money to buy Water Buffalo to be donated to the NGO...I'm just not sure that is what she was talking about or not.
For you doubters...I've been with my wife for 31 years...and i know when she is serious.
And yes, I know all about the "sick Water Buffalo" syndrome. I've even had a couple of bargirls...before I met my wife I hasten to add...try it on me.
My wife put in 1000 baht and I put in 500 Baht. If you want to laugh, go ahead. It doesn't bother me. After 30 years of marriage I have a pretty good idea of when she is serious about something by now. And she is serious about this.
Also if you did a search on the net you could find reports about the problem of Thai farmers switching to tractors from Water Buffalo to plow/till their fields. For one thing, Water Buffalo can go into marginal and swampy land which tractors are not really suited for.

Originally Posted by liveinlos

We use a rice tractor in our fields. I have never heard of donating to save a water buffalo. Most of the people that own them in Isaan treasure them highly and once again I have never heard of anyone eating one.

Absolutely- they're like pets. I've never seen one being worked here. And they fetch a healthy price too- can't see anyone locally giving one away. It might be different elsewhere though. They would certainly be useful to the Hill tribers.

I've always thought the supposedly derogatory term 'kwai' is really a compliment- enormously strong, normally placid, but watch out when they're aroused!

Now, this is my kind of water buffalo .......

^ The guy in the bandana, or the weirdo with the beard ?

Fair comment ...... I guess I left myself wide open for that


Actually I was thinking of the blue & chrome thing at the side. The one I've got has twin discs though, and isn't as clean as the one pictured.

Those two would probably provide more fertiliser than my beast though.

Why do they make seats on powerful motorbikes so slippery?