Thais reap benefits of buffaloes

Buffaloes have always played an integral part in Thai culture and society. They have been used for centuries by peasants in order to plough their rice fields.

However, Thailand’s buffalo population has declined in recent years with farmers finding modern machinery more efficient and productive.

But due to environmental concerns, authorities are now encouraging farmers to return to a more sustainable source of farm labour than tractors.

Al Jazeera’s Wayne Hay reports from a rural village in Nakhon Ratchasima, where a buffalo school has been opened to train the animals to plough.