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Before any reader with a more fertile imagination conjures up a picture of a buffalo sitting in a long boat being towed by a jet ski (maybe next year), let me hasten to say that these were three separate events albeit taking place simultaneously and not far from each other.
The long boats were competing on the Mabprachan reservoir just outside of Pattaya in the annual Pattaya Long Boat championship.
The Long Boat, originally built for battle against aggressors is nowadays used in races in several parts of the country and each boat is beautifully crafted and decked out with garlands and flowers.
The Pattaya championship, as in the past three years, consists of pairs of these traditional craft paddled by teams of either 30 or 55 rowers racing against each other down the side of the reservoir in a series of knockout contests, the final winners receiving the Princess Theprattanasuda and Princess Soamsawalee trophies.
The dam across the length of the reservoir which is normally part of a through road, provides an ideal location for spectators to view the races as the course runs more or less from one end of the dam to the other and is close enough to afford an excellent view of the rowers of each of the two boats in turn frantically paddling their craft against each other.
And on the side road below the dam, the usual bevy of stalls were set up selling food, drinks and also goods from the ‘One Village (Tambon) One Product’ scheme.
And as in previous years a very enthusiastic crowd turned out to cheer their favourite teams egged on by a frenetic commentator on the very loud public address system.
During our relatively short stay there we witnessed several very closely fought races in both sizes of boat.
Here is a selection of photos of the Long Boat Races - as usual to see any of these full size, just click on the appropriate thumbnail image.
Just a short distance away further round the lake, in conjunction with the Long Boat races, a Buffalo (or as the sign said ‘Baffalo’) Racing event was held, this being the second year that this had been added to the weekend’s activities.
Although not on the same scale as the much larger Chonburi annual event held the previous month, this still provided much fun and amusement for the crowd that assembled to watch the competitors racing down the course astride their mounts.
Before the racing started, the competing animals were paraded up and down the course although it was not clear whether this was to familiarise them with the track or to impress spectators as to the likely winners.
Then the riders had a series of practice mounts and assuming they managed to stay aboard, practice runs down the course.
During this one brave but somewhat foolhardy western spectator decided to try his hand at mounting one of the beasts. To give him his due, in spite of being unceremoniously unseated several times, he kept coming back for more until eventually the buffalo tired of this and headed down the course alone.
In fact one of the problems of buffalo racing is getting the or 4 riders in each event to stay astride their mount all together long enough for the race to start.
As an aid to this a set of starting stalls had been built but even with the aid of these there were several false starts with riders being unseated and the animals charging off alone and then having to be brought all the way back for the re-start.
But in spite of this, several closely fought races ensued and the spectators either lined up down the sides of the course or sitting on the very basic but effective grandstand gained a very close up view of the proceedings – in fact sometimes a bit too close as riders and animals veered wildly down the course.
Here is a further selection of photos this time of the Buffalo Races - as before to see any of these full size, just click on the appropriate thumbnail image.
Both the long boats and buffalo races were of course long standing traditional events here in Thailand.
For those wishing to see or participate in a somewhat less traditional and more modern event, the Pattaya Jet Ski championships took place on the seas just off Jomtien Beach during the same weekend.
This was also enthusiastically attended, generally but not totally by a younger audience, and for them provided some exciting racing as the competitors sped round a slalom type course round a series of marker buoys just offshore.
The championship was split into a series of races for jet skis of differing sizes and types and also included a race where each craft had to tow behind it a long ‘Banana Boat’ raft with 3 people holding on for grim death.
It was not immediately clear if the winner of this event would be the combination that finished the required number of laps first, or the one who managed to complete the course with all three passengers still attached as several rafts overturned or otherwise disposed of some or all of their members. Good fun all round, although judging from the screams of those being towed and hanging on for grim death, perhaps more so for the spectators.
Each race started off from the shore with the jet skis being lined up to await the starter’s flag. Anyone venturing close behind them when they started their engines instantly discovered this was not a good place to be as they were plastered with a spray of sand filled salt water, and your reporter is speaking from personal experience here.
All three of these events once again helped to make another fun filled weekend for the residents and visitors to this always exciting part of the world.
Finally here is a last selection of photos this time of the Jet Ski Racing - as before to see any of these full size, just click on the appropriate thumbnail image.
To view any of the above photos in full size, just click on it.
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