Ban Khwai (Buffalo House)

Water buffalo have worked alongside Thai farmers for centuries, and Ban Khwai (Buffalo House) in Mae Rim offers a hands-on look at that relationship. The farm welcomes both tourists and school groups, making it one of the few attractions in the Chiang Mai area dedicated specifically to Thai agricultural heritage rather than jungle scenery or hill-tribe culture.

What There Is to Do

The centrepiece activity is direct contact with the farm’s working buffalo: visitors can feed them, help wash them down, and watch — or join in — traditional tasks such as ploughing and rice threshing. Staff demonstrate two named methods of working the animals, thai da and thai phruan, terms tied to specific ploughing and threshing techniques passed down through generations of Thai rice farmers. A separate Farmer’s Museum on site displays the tools and everyday objects that shaped rural Thai life before mechanised farming took over — hand ploughs, threshing baskets, and the kind of household items you’d have found in a working farmhouse decades ago.

Insider Tip: Buffalo respond better to a calm, unhurried approach — hang back and watch the handlers first before feeding or washing one yourself, especially with children in the group.

Practical Information

The farm sits on the Chiang Mai-Fang Road (Route 107) in the San Pong subdistrict of Mae Rim, roughly half an hour north of central Chiang Mai. It is open daily from 09:00 to 17:00, with admission at 200 THB for adults and 100 THB for children (same rate for Thai and foreign visitors). Contact the farm on 0 5384 4914 or by email at srirai@hotmail.com.

Watch out: This is a working farm, not a polished visitor centre — expect dust, mud after rain, and animal smells that come with real agricultural life rather than a manicured show. Closed shoes are more practical than sandals.

Mae Rim is dense with family-friendly stops, so Ban Khwai is easy to fold into a wider loop: Mae Sa Waterfall, Mae Sa Elephant Camp, and the Queen Sirikit Botanical Garden all sit within the same stretch of Route 107.

Getting There

Ban Khwai (Buffalo House) is at 300/2 Chiang Mai-Fang Road, San Pong, Mae Rim. View on Google Maps. A private car or taxi is the most practical way to reach it; the road runs north from the city ring road toward Fang.