Fun Farm Tour at Farm Chokchai

One of the best agro-tourism projects in Thailand is undoubtedly Farm Chokchai in Nakhon Ratchasima Province which is only a three to four hour drive from Pattaya. You can either come here as a day trip or as a stopover on your way to Khorat. The highlight is undoubtedly the farm tours. Farm Chokchai was started by Chokchai Bulakul back in 1957. The farm began with beef cattle but later turned their attention to a dairy herd. Today the farm covers an area of 8,000 acres and has 5,000 cattle. In recent years, the farm started their agro tours where people can learn about the running of a dairy farm which also includes hands on experience of milking a cow, making ice cream, petting farm animals and watching a cowboy show.

You can join farm tours from Tuesday to Sunday. During the week they only have two scheduled tours at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. However, at the weekend they have six rounds starting at 9 a.m. and the last one at 3 p.m. The tours starts off with a short movie then you are taken outside to see the Machinery Museum where you can see the original vehicles used at the farm. The next stop is the Milking Parlor. The milking procedure is fully automated with enough room for 192 cows to be milked at the same time. The tour guide would then give a demonstration on how the machines work and also how to milk the cows by hand. If you are keen, you can change into some boosts and have a go at milking the cows yourself as well.

Next is the Dairy Plant. This is where they produce four milk products: milk, yoghurt, ice cream and milk toffee. Interestingly, the brand name "Farm Chokchai" was sold some years ago so they call their milk products ‘Umm...milk!’. A movie about how milk is pasteurized will also be shown. After that, guests would be taken on a tractor ride to tour the rest of the farm. There is no two price system and so foreign tourists can enjoy the tour for the same price of 250 baht for adults and 125 baht for children.

Last stop is the Western themed town. There are souvenir shops and shooting games to play at only 30 baht a game. For older children, there is horse riding for 40 baht or a family horse and cart ride for only 100 baht. There is also a dragon fruit plantation next to an ATV Track for 180 baht.

After some free time guests will enter a small arena to watch a 30-minute live cowboy show.

After the show the tour would then head to the petting zoo and animal show area. This is a great place for the younger family members. They have smaller ponies here for the younger kids to try their hands at riding. In the petting zoo you can buy food to feed the animals such as camels, deers and rabbits.

The best thing do after a long day is treat yourself to some of the best steaks in Thailand at the Chokchai Steakhouse.