International Flora Show

[jypa33]

How to get to the international flora show, which is called phitsanuloke or something like that if I am not mistaken. Is it somewhere near Hangdong or the Night Safari ?

[Maejo Man]

How to get to the international flora show, which is called phitsanuloke or something like that if I am not mistaken. Is it somewhere near Hangdong or the Night Safari ?

Rachapreuk or Rajahpreuk after the beautiful tree that is predominant in Phitsanulok. Head north on Huay Gaew past Central till you reach the Phucome traffic lights. Turn left and keep going till you see the turn off sign. It's well signnposted, and hard to miss....

[meadish_sweetball]

พืดส่วนโลค phûed sùan lôke = approx. Plants of the World

Directions as Maejo Man said. This is the last week of the exhibition apparently.

[treeman]

Here is the website.

http://www.royalfloraexpo.com/index.asp

[Ulysses G.]

พืดส่วนโลค phûed sùan lôke = approx. Plants of the World

Directions as Maejo Man said. This is the last week of the exhibition apparently.

May it never return.

[lannarebirth]

พืดส่วนโลค phûed sùan lôke = approx. Plants of the World

Directions as Maejo Man said. This is the last week of the exhibition apparently.

May it never return.

I live around the corner from the Royal Flora, and while traffic levels did increase quite a bit, it wasn't too onerous. I have different opinion than you, in that I think this is the very kind of attraction that Chiang Mai should seek to host. It was not exploitive of animals or women, it recouped all the financial outlay, IT WAS WIDELY ATTENDED AND ENJOYED BY THAIS, and it pumped a ton of money into the local economy. If they choose to continue the exhibition, or bring in others, I do hope they sort the parking arrangements out; but other than that I think it was a generally positive enterprise.

[Ulysses G.]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

[Johpa]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

Do you think it might have something to do with hotel guest rates for Thais being significantly lower than guest rates for Farangs?

[tigerbeer]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

such generalisation and a narrow minded conclusion. you can't be serious? hotels are booming!. and seriously, farangs are not the only ones with money. i see mostly backpakers.

ratchapruek has brought in lots of money into the economy and its a good thing. if hotels can't make enough money through room services and laundry, too bad!. their marketing and profit making strategies need some serious changes.

[dmerchent]

I agree with Ulysses G. I came back from the US and was picked up at the airport by our friend Suwat that drives a metered cab...he was very sad, he's had a terrible few months when it should have been his high season....not many farangs in town and he said Thais do not like to take cabs...they all were using package tours and tour busses that were set up from Bangkok and other areas...someone made a lot of money but it wasn't locals.

[meadish_sweetball]

I don't think it is that clear cut. Many restaurants will have made themselves a mint, although not the ones that have almost exclusively farang customers normally - lunch restaurants like Samoejai khao soi and Kiat Ocha khao man kai, as well as a fair number of evening places have probably done great - as have the khan toke places, no doubt.

Chiang Mai taxis need to reassess their business model if they want to stay in business. I am fairly sure that if they scrapped the surcharges they would be able to get constant business off expats, and Thais would start using them as well. At least those are what turned me off them.

[Ulysses G.]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

such generalisation and a narrow minded conclusion. you can't be serious? hotels are booming!. and seriously, farangs are not the only ones with money.

I live all year in a big, very popular, medium priced hotel near Thapae Gate and run my own shop which is down the street, so I talk with the Thai owner of the hotel about business on a regular basis.

The hotel has been full since November, at the same rates that farangs pay, but she is very unhappy with profits overall and often asks me if I think farangs will come here when the flower show has ended and "save the season".

Do to my business, I am friendly with a lot of Thai and farang business people and I can't think of one that did nearly as well as past years.

Undoubtedly, some tourist-oriented businesses in Chiang Mai did better this year than in the past, but I have yet to hear about one.

[lannarebirth]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

such generalisation and a narrow minded conclusion. you can't be serious? hotels are booming!. and seriously, farangs are not the only ones with money.

I live all year in a big, very popular, medium priced hotel near Thapae Gate and run my own shop which is down the street, so I talk with the Thai owner of the hotel about business on a regular basis.

The hotel has been full since November, at the same rates that farangs pay, but she is very unhappy with profits overall and often asks me if I think farangs will come here when the flower show has ended and "save the season".

Do to my business, I am friendly with a lot of Thai and farang business people and I can't think of one that did nearly as well as past years.

Undoubtedly, some tourist-oriented businesses in Chiang Mai did better this year than in the past, but I have yet to hear about one.

I think it's possible that Chiang Mai got more than it's fair share of tourist business the past couple of years, due to the Tsunami. Phuket is said to be booming now, so maybe things are just going back to normal?

[Austhaied]

It also greatly damaged the local economy. It should have been held at a different time of year.

Restaurants, travel agents, trecking services, internet cafes and other services that rely on farang customers mostly had a very lean year as farangs couldn't get hotel rooms as the locals had booked them all in advance.

Yes, hotels were filled with Thais instead of farangs, but the hotels are all moaning because Thais don't use any of the extra services like laundry and room service that help hotels earn a decent profit, so they didn't make much money either.

In fact, Chiang Mai lost more money this year because of the flower show than past fears of the Bird flu, Sars and terrorism put together!

What a load of <deleted>.. The Thais tourists coming here for the expo have every right in the world to stay in the so-called "farang" hotels. After all it is their country. Lets all get our violins out for the poor ol local economy that is as you say "damaged"...And i like the one about CM "losing" money due to the flower show.. Hillarious.. You have made my day.. All in all (apart from the parking) everyone i know that has been has only positive things to say about it.. Well done CM. Good effort.

[Ulysses G.]

I think it's possible that Chiang Mai got more than it's fair share of tourist business the past couple of years, due to the Tsunami. Phuket is said to be booming now, so maybe things are just going back to normal?

Yes, the Tsunami helped soften the blow to Chiang Mai tourism from Bird Flu because people who normally would have visited Phuket were afraid and went North instead, but The Tsunami was pretty much a freak of nature and probably couldn't have been avoided.

However, this year Phuket is getting the free-spending farang visitors who would have visited Chiang Mai if they had been able to get a room and Phuket is complaining that their tourist facilities are overwhelmed.

A little better planning would have avoided this problem for both places.

[Ulysses G.]

What a load of <deleted>.. Lets all get our violins out for the poor ol local economy that is as you say "damaged"...And i like the one about CM "losing" money due to the flower show.. Hillarious..

I had no idea that Allan Greenspan was a regular here on Thai Visa.

Don't worry, your learned economic advice will be deposited in the proper bin.

[Austhaied]

What a load of <deleted>.. Lets all get our violins out for the poor ol local economy that is as you say "damaged"...And i like the one about CM "losing" money due to the flower show.. Hillarious..

I had no idea that Allan Greenspan was a regular here on Thai Visa.

Don't worry, your learned economic advice will be deposited in the proper bin.

Nice comeback.. The truth is out there matey.. I am am sure you will set the CM economy right next "farang" tourist season.. And it wasn't "economic" advice, it was "being a good human" advice..Have a nice evening Uslesses..

[Ulysses G.]

It is all about thinking ahead.

If the Flower Show had been planned for September through November or February through April there probably would have been about enough hotel rooms for both kinds of tourists and Chiang Mai would have emerged a winner!

[Austhaied]

It is all about thinking ahead.

Correct. But this is not a common trait the Thai's seem to have in abundance.. But i am sure they will listen to you when you tell them. Just letting them be would be "Alan Greenspoons" financial planning advice ..It's far more entertaining.. Pushing excrement up hill would be the correct analogy of getting the locals to change their way of "thinking"..Chock Dee my friend..

[manjara]

It is all about thinking ahead.

If the Flower Show had been planned for September through November or February through April there probably would have been about enough hotel rooms for both kinds of tourists and Chiang Mai would have emerged a winner!

The Thais did seem to be enjoying it, but for my money (and the whole family came from near Phayao for a day out), I thought it was pretty poor. Very few decent displays, it just seemed to be 'lip service' to horticulture.

it actually seemed a bit like the Royal Agricultural show in Edinburgh, but without the animals!

And they made you walk past a hundred tacky overpriced souvenier shops to get out of the ###### place.

Perhaps my expectations were too high, TIT after all...

[Ricardo]

Judging by the masses of tour-buses, parked outside the 39-Baht All-You-Can-Eat restaurants on the 2nd-Ring-Road, then those businesses must have been better-off than normal, unless they sell food at a loss ?

And possibly the hotels ought to charge the same tarriff for locals, as for their foreign visitors, then they would be profitable - whatever the origin-mix of their guests. But that will never happen.

I thought holding it in the cool-season made sense, can you imagine the displays being washed or blown away, if it was monsoon time ?

I heard a 'buzz' that the Royal Flora was going to close, after the 31st, and re-open a few months later as some sort of park/educational-centre. Hope that they can afford to maintain the site to somewhere near the current standard, on whatever budget is available, as it would be nice to retain this attraction. IMHO it beats the neighbouring Night-Safari hands down !

But it would be nice to be able to get a seat on a flight on a Friday/Monday again ! The past 3 months were chock-a-block whenever we tried.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Ricardo

[lannarebirth]

Mixed feelings as curtain set to fall on flora expo

The future of the Royal Flora Expo site is still undecided, even though only three days remain before the curtain falls on this three-month-long international event.

It could turn into another giant public park or botanical garden or remain as a flora exhibit, officials said recently.

"The most likely option is turning it into a horticulture study centre for the public and keeping it as another tourist destination in Chiang Mai at the same time," the expo's public-relations officer Preecha Sananvatananont said.

The bigger question is who will take care of this huge site, which requires close and costly management.

"I have heard about setting up a foundation to oversee the site, something like a Royal Flora Expo Foundation," said Junnapong Sara-nak, a senior local tourism official.

"The Agriculture Ministry has the idea of setting up the new organisation to oversee it, but it might take several months to finalise the idea and introduce it legally," Preecha said.

Only two things are confirmed so far. First, the rumour that the expo will be extended until the end of the year is not true as it will definitely close officially on Wednesday.

Second, plants at the site will be watered for two more months by a company paid out of the expo's budget.

The final decision about what to do with the site rests with the Agriculture Ministry, Preecha said.

Apart from its future, today's top issue is what Thailand actually got from putting on this gigantic, Bt3-billion international event.

Quantitatively, the turnout was staggering.

"The visitor figure is over 3.5 million, way over our initial estimate of two million," Preecha said.

It is four times higher than the visitor figure for Chiang Mai during November and January of the previous year, Junnapong said.

Financially, he estimates that the expo over its 92 days injected more than Bt20 billion into the economy of Chiang Mai and nearby provinces, Bt2 billion more than his initial forecast.

Before the expo kicked off, Kasikorn Research Centre's Kanchana Choonhasirirak projected that it would draw three million visitors spending some Bt23 billion.

This estimated figure was 130 per cent higher than the normal visitor figure for the area, she said.

However, qualitatively, the success of the expo is still unclear and hard to gauge.

The expo had three objectives: celebrating His Majesty the King's reign, educating the public and international community about the biodiversity of Thai tropical flora, and promoting local Lanna culture. The expo also expects to act as the finale of the celebration of His Majesty's 60 years on the throne and the launch of celebrations for his 80th birthday this year.

The reaction from visitors, via the media and direct interviews, is positive for the first and the third objectives but not the second one. Promotion of Lanna culture was expressed via light-and-sound shows as well as the expo's architecture and design.

"I am very impressed with the King's biography, life and work as presented at the expo, as well as the beauty of the Orchid Pavilion," one visitor said.

"I'm happy with it. So far so good, except the weather during the day is too hot. The toilets are decorated nicely," another said.

But some slightly negative comments were also heard.

"Yes, it's beautiful, but most species are common ones that we can see in normal life. I expected to see a greater variety of unusual species than we got," said Ing, a food-seller in Chiang Mai.

Some even complained about too much "sufficiency economy" on display.

According to the personal observations of Yui, a master's-degree student working as an expo official, the top sights were the Royal Pavilion, Orchid Pavilion, Bhutanese garden (mainly due to Thais' admiration for Bhutan's prince, now king) and tulip garden from the Netherlands.

"The tulip garden attracted Thais due to its beauty and the rare chance to see one in Thailand, but foreigners were attracted more to the orchids," Preecha said.

"The expo's function is to inspire, not to be a classroom. I think we were very successful in exciting people about flora. We wanted them to see the great potential and biodiversity of Thai flora, though we are not sure how long it [the inspiration] will last," Preecha said.

The most popular activity was taking snapshots by mobile phone and digital camera. Few visitors were seen around academic exhibitions or seminars.

"Personally, I think our greatest success was promoting family activities. We saw many parents bring their elders to visit the expo. A loving family strolling through the expo grounds was really heart-warming," Preecha said.

But to evaluate the success of the expo, its objectives must be borne in mind. First it was supposed to be an international expo conveying its message to the global community. In fact, only 250,000 out of the 3.5 million visitors were foreigners.

"The expo didn't bring in substantially more foreigners, considering the figures of prior years. Most of them had already planned to come here and just added the expo to their itinerary. Many were expats in Chiang Mai," Junnapong said.

Most visitors were locals, which explains why areas showcasing Thai culture, Thai houses and Thai plants were mostly empty.

Some food-sellers at the expo said their business had been incredibly bad due to their offerings not being to visitors' tastes.

"We even asked to close our restaurant after two weeks," said Rungnapha Moolmuk, the manager of Tajmahal Restaurant at the expo.

It sells Indian food and can scarcely ever cover expenses, she said.

"We take only Bt16,000 a day, less than the Bt25,000 of our daily costs," she said. Due to her contract, the expo's management refused to let her close.

However, local food and hotel businesses, both big and small, felt as if they had hit the jackpot, said Wilas Panyawong of the Chiang Mai Restaurant Owners' Association.

"All hotels are fully booked. Night places like souvenir shops are teeming with visitors," he said.

"Overall, positive reactions are heard rather than negative," Junnapong said.

"We learned a lot in helping to organise the expo, both in business and content of the expo," Preecha said.

"Many people will miss the event after Wednesday," he said.

Two questions will remain after that night: the fate of the expo site and the alleged corruption during the expo's construction, which involved the joint venture of Ch Karncharng Plc and Nong Nooch Landscape and Garden Ltd, known as CKNNL.

The investigation of that case is still going on, Preecha said.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation

Chiang Mai

[Ricardo]

I took a visiting friend to see the new park, which I had understood was due to open end-April/start-May, the other day - but the Royal Flora site is just closed and blocked-off.

Basic maintenance was being done on the flower-beds near the front, the big catering-tents were gone, but otherwise it all looked very abandoned and sad.

Anybody know what is supposed to be happening up there ?

It would IMHO be a missed-opportunity, if the gardens are left to decay & rot, rather than becoming some sort of attraction.

[Ulysses G.]

Interesting.

I haven't met one businessperson - Thai or Farang - who doesn't feel that the Flora Show hurt business badly during last high season.

I hope that they either move it to a less busy time of year or burn the place down!

[cmsally]

Make it into a public park would be nice.

[Ricardo]

Interesting.

I haven't met one businessperson - Thai or Farang - who doesn't feel that the Flora Show hurt business badly during last high season.

I hope that they either move it to a less busy time of year or burn the place down!

Obviously the show itself was a one-off, and is now over, it's a question of whether the remains can be turned into some sort of park/garden-attraction which adds to Chiang Mai's natural/cultural image to attract or hold-for-longer the sort of tourists who like to come here.

God forbid it should just become an extension to the Night Safari !

In the UK we had a rather unfortunate experience, with the 'Millenium Tent', for which no real alternative-use was found, after the one-year exhibition.

[WaiWai]

But it would be nice to be able to get a seat on a flight on a Friday/Monday again ! The past 3 months were chock-a-block whenever we tried.

Any reason why the airlines didn't/don't run a few more flights at those times ? Evidently there was the demand.

I agree that making a public park of the site would be nice.

[Crow Boy]

But it would be nice to be able to get a seat on a flight on a Friday/Monday again ! The past 3 months were chock-a-block whenever we tried.

Any reason why the airlines didn't/don't run a few more flights at those times ? Evidently there was the demand.

THe problem is the physical limitation in the number of aircraft - all the airlines had addtional (to normal) flights everyday including Friday and Monday but the number of passengers was higher than available seats. Bus lines and the Railway had similar problems. People were buying the flight, accomodation, and entry to the show as a package deal - they took precedence over simple one way or return flights. This is common practice for similar events anywhere in the world. I flew to and from BKK twice during the show and while I had to book a little bit ahead and settle for a less than ideal departure time I managed to get my tickets with minimal drama.

I agree that making a public park of the site would be nice.

I agree that it would be nice and over the years could be transformed into a wonderful botanical garden but Thais are not such minded. Look at Buak Had City Park on the Moat corner of Arrak and Bumbungburi. It should be a lovely little oasis but instead it is covered in discarded trash. I think this one will just be like so many other similar places in Thailand it will be let to slowly decay and then become an eyesore.

CB

[chanchao]

As it happens, last Saturday I flew over the place in the ol' ultralight and it looked pretty well kept:

Edited June 21, 2007 by chanchao

[lannarebirth]

I'd like to see the Night Safari scrapped and have the Chiang Mai Zoo and a botanical garden moved to the Royal Flora/Night Safri site. then make the current zoo land into a park and available for CMU expansion.