Sunflowers get into bloom in Central Thailand

Travel log 

 

Sunflowers in Lopburi province. Photo: Tourism Authority of Thailand

 

Now’s a great time to take a drive around central Thailand to see the annual sunflower spectacle…

The sunflower season has started in Central Thailand and, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand Lop Buri Office, the first sunflowers of the year can now be seen in some fields near Khao Chin Lae in Lop Buri, just a short drive northeast of Bangkok.

 

The sunflower season in Lop Buri and Sara Buri provinces in Central Thailand normally starts around November and goes on until January or February, depending on the weather. Each farm in the two provinces takes turns planting the sunflowers so that there is at least one area of blooming flowers during this period. This year, the season extends from 1 November, 2017, to 31 January, 2018.

 

Each sunflower field lasts about 10 days, and most farms offer free entry, some might provide extra services; such as, pony riding and exploring the field on a mini tractor. There are also booths selling sunflower oil and seeds as well as fruit, food and beverages.

 

Here are some of the best places to visit the sunflower fields in Lop Buri and Sara Buri:

 

Lop Buri offers the first places to see the sunflowers in bloom in Phatthana Nikhom, Chai Badan, and Khok Samrong districts. The most famous location is in the fields around Khao Chin Lae, where the limestone mountain provides an impressive backdrop for the vast landscape of beautiful yellow flowers as they turn their bright faces to follow the sun.

 

Sara Buri is another home of sunflower fields in Thailand. Travelling by car is recommended as you’ll need to drive around the various areas, including Khao Din Phattana in Amphoe Chaloem Phra Kiat; Nayao in Amphoe Phra Phutthabat; Hinson in Amphoe Kaeng Khoi, Salaengpan in Amphoe Wang Muang, Ban Kluai in Amphoe Nong Don, and Mittraphap and Amphoe Muak Lek.

 

Since it’s a bit of a challenge to map which fields will see the sunflowers in bloom at which time, you might like to call the TAT Lop Buri Office for some recommendations at Tel: +66 (0) 3677 0096-7.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Travel_log/30331561

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-11-16

Yep, there in bloom.  I live in the last house on a dirt road near the intersections of highway 1 and highway 11 in Nakhon Sawan Province.  The fields that were planted after the corn harvest  past my house are in full bloom, but the plants and flowers are very small due to the wet weather that we have had over the past two months. It'll be a toss up if they are harvested or just turned into the soil.  The ones on higher ground with good drainage are doing better, but the fields around me are all low and the drainage has been blocked by progress, the build up and surfacing of the connecting roads without any consideration to natural drainage.

 

HI wayned

Nice to see someone has done there homework and got the facts in an article right ,if here in Patthananikhom  we sill have any in flower end of January, I think you will be lucky .

When sunflowers were first grown around ,none where sown before October, end of the rainy season , sunflowers  do not like a lot of water ,the crops around  now in flower are grown on light land , heavy  land crops ,are  still growing  and will not flower  for another 3 weeks  ,farmers growing an early crop hope to get a good price for they crop  ,before the main crop comes on to the market and the price drops .what wayned was saying  some growers are going to get they fingers burnt .

When first grown around here they were harvested by hand , and  a mobile thrasher  come to thrash the seed out from the heads ,now  a combine dose the job .