Thais and the world at large have fallen in love with a farmer and his water buffaloes after selfies of them were posted on Facebook.

The 32-year-old farmer, Surat Phaewgate, who lives in Chainat province, on Nov. 11 uploaded five selfies of himself giving a wide, toothy smile next to his five-year-old buffalo named Tong Kum, which means "gold" in Thai.

He has become so popular among the Thais that they affectionately call him P Klao, named after a farmer in a famous Thai romantic-comedy movie.

Local media have rushed to interview him as well.

The uncanny resemblance between man and bovine, in particular Tong Kum, as seen in the smiling selfies, has been all the rage.

According to Naewna, Phaewgate described the buffalo as being very docile and "polite".

Netizens also gushed over the cute buffalos, saying they want one for themselves too.

Selfies with his buffalos

Phaewgate initially received Tong Kum from the government-owned Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) -- a bank that gives loans to farmers who need the financial aid.

As for the other four buffaloes, they belong to another farmer who asked him to help take care of them.

As time passed, Phaewgate grew to love the buffaloes, taking them out to graze, bathing them, and even taking them out on walks.

It was one day when he was out in the fields with only his buffaloes and his smartphone for company that he started taking selfies together with them.

And never had he expected the simple selfies to blow up the way they did.

Failed at other endeavours before he became a farmer

Phaewgate did not start out being a farmer.

He was a businessman before who tried his hand at selling various things. But business was bad.

For instance, he tried selling sugar cane, but failed at it when prices dropped.

So, he gave that up and enrolled in a training programme organised by "Young Smart Farmer".

Two years have passed since then.

Saying that he was inspired by the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who had promoted the so-called "sufficiency economy" philosophy, he moved away from monoculture, or single crop farming, and diversified his farming practice.

He divided his land for different purposes -- one part for water storage, one part for crop rotations and one part for livestock.

His crops are all organic too.

Don't need much to be happy

After settling into farming, Phaewgate said he learnt that he could live happily and healthily without having a lot of money.

Confessing that he was extremely materialistic in the past, he now says he wants to teach his children that they don't need a lot to be happy.

Awesome.

All photos & top image via สุรัตน์ แผ้วเกตุ/FB