Kasornkasivit School

Kasornkasivit School is a royal-initiative farming centre on the edge of Sa Kaeo town, built around water buffalo rather than classrooms — despite the name, this isn’t a school for children. HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn laid the foundation stone in January 2008 through the Chaipattana Foundation, and the centre opened in March 2009 to preserve buffalo-based rice farming as tractors took over across rural Isan.

The pens hold dozens of buffalo that visitors can approach, feed, and photograph up close — considerably tamer than the animals’ reputation suggests. Staff run regular demonstrations of young buffalo being trained to plough, the traditional first step before a working animal is put to use in the paddy. The centre’s best-known resident is an albino buffalo once associated with Princess Sirindhorn, a genuine draw for Thai visitors and one of the few all-white buffalo most people will ever see. Beyond the animal pens, the grounds include demonstration rice paddies planted in staggered stages so a single visit shows the crop at several points in its cycle, a small research lab studying buffalo nutrition, and an orchard of several thousand fruit and medicinal trees.

There’s also a coffee shop on site — known locally as “Kwai Kanong” — where you can sit with a drink and a view over the paddies after the buffalo pens. The centre runs longer residential courses for farmers (around 15 days) and students (around 3 days) covering sufficiency-economy farming methods, though casual visitors are there for the animals and the walk through the grounds rather than the training programme itself.

Insider Tip: Go in the late afternoon when the light is softer and the buffalo are typically fed — that’s when the animals are most active and approachable, rather than resting in shade through the midday heat.

Watch out: Opening days and hours for casual visitors aren’t consistently confirmed across sources — phone ahead (0 3755 0354) before a special trip, particularly if you’re coming from outside Sa Kaeo town.

For other stops in Sa Kaeo town itself, Sa Kaeo Sa Khwan (the sacred twin ponds the province takes its name from) and the Shrine of City Pillar Sa Kaeo are both a short drive away.