Indian Journal of Ecology

Thai water buffalos (Bubalus bubalis) or krabue (in Thai) are native animals that play an essential role in the traditional way of life of Thai farmers, especially in farming processes, including tilling soil in preparation for planting, providing manure to be used as fertilizer, and dragging carts to carry rice, among other tasks. To the farmers, therefore, water buffalos are an important part of their team and are even considered to be like their family members. Nowadays, the use of a two-wheel type of tractor is increasingly replacing buffalos because they are more convenient and better able to serve mass production needs. However, when the economic situation changes and the price of oil and the cost of living both increases, farmers return to using buffalos in their farming activities in line with the sufficiency economy theory. Therefore, this research aims to improve the standard of living of Thai farmers by studying the possibility of using modern technology and innovations in the form of smartphones operated via Bluetooth to command the buffalos to move in the desired direction. Aprototype system was developed for commanding buffalos to work for farmers. The results show that the buffalos tend to comply with the commands from the developed equipment. However, the equipment still requires further development.