Thai PM meets $500,000 albino buffalo in ‘soft power’ push

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BANGKOK – Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin took the bull by the horns Wednesday as he welcomed an unusual visitor to his offices — an enormous white buffalo that recently sold for $500,000. 
The bulky bovine, named Ko Muang Phet, was renowned in Thai farming circles as a stud animal but hit the mainstream last week with its big-ticket sale, and earned a trip to Government House to meet Srettha.
Standing 1.8 metres tall, the four-year-old albino from western Phetchaburi province weighs 1.4 tonnes — almost three times more than the average buffalo. 
Ko Muang Phet has already become a minor TV star, featuring in an episode of the hugely popular “Sound From The Field Of Love” soap opera.
Srettha — no shorty himself at 1.92 metres tall — went nose-to-nose with the horned celebrity in front of Government House.
“I had no idea we had such beautiful buffalo,” Srettha told gathered reporters, gingerly patting one of the creature’s huge curved horns.
“Are there more like this?”
Water buffalo are ubiquitous in the Thai countryside, prized as sturdy and reliable farm animals, and albino specimens are particularly valuable because of their rarity.