Oxen disagree on harvest forecast

The Thai oxen predicted a strong harvest and plentiful rains

Thailand's royal oxen have predicted plentiful crops and healthy rains in an age-old ceremony marking the start of the rice-planting season.

After ploughing a symbolic furrow at a Bangkok parade ground, the oxen were offered a variety of foods representing harvest outcomes.

They chose bowls of rice, corn and grass - good news for farmers.

But at a similar event in Cambodia, the oxen ate only a small amount of corn, meaning a lean harvest to come.

The majority of the populations of both countries are farmers and many of them put great faith in traditional methods of predicting the harvest.

The Royal Ploughing ceremony in Bangkok was presided over by Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn and broadcast live on television.

Meanwhile, Cambodian member of parliament Son Chhay, who attended the Phnom Penh ceremony, said it was the worst prediction he had seen in more than 10 years.