Royal Flora Expo To Re-open In August

[ThaiPauly]

I was amazed to read on the FRONT PAGE of the BK Post as the LEAD STORY that the Royal Flora show is due to re-open as a Botanical Garden on August 3rd in Sunday's edition.

Many people in Tambon Mae Hia (which is where I live) are apparantly not happy about it because of the water the show consumed when it was open before which had an impact of water being available for irrigation purposes for farming. plus waste disposal issues.

I never even knew it was re-opening, which is the point of the article, as absolutley no marketing has been done to tell people that it is re-opening. They are also questioning how waste management will be controlled.

Has anyone else heard about this, as it may have a major impact on us all........or none at all and maybee just turn out to be another white elephant like the Night Safari????

Apparantly it will be exactly the same but without the insect tents and tulip fields from Holland

Any opinions? Will it be good for CM or have the negative impact many business people here said it had when it was previously open and a bad impact on local livlihoods,or more jobs?

[colinm]

Old news

I was down there around the end of Songkran and one of the staff told me it would be re-opening (they said around July)

[rachele703]

It should not have such a negative impact on the Farang tourist trade as it did last year. I think a permanent Botanical Garden is a good idea not withstanding the water issue which clearly needs to be addressed.

[PeaceBlondie]

Maybe I forgot, but we went about 3 times last year, and yes, the floral expo had some problems, but I don't recall it being so negative for tourism. We got busloads of Bangkokians; traffic was worse on the klong road; there was confusion at first about parking; it wasn't all that great; they scammed the vendors at the entrance near the klong road; some hotels were full, which is actually good for tourism.

But we won't buy season tickets again. When you see one begonia, you've seen them all.

[adjan jb]

We got busloads of Bangkokians; traffic was worse on the klong road; there was confusion at first about parking; it wasn't all that great

Queue Gardens.

[miltonbentley]

Maybe I forgot, but we went about 3 times last year, and yes, the floral expo had some problems, but I don't recall it being so negative for tourism. We got busloads of Bangkokians; traffic was worse on the klong road; there was confusion at first about parking; it wasn't all that great; they scammed the vendors at the entrance near the klong road; some hotels were full, which is actually good for tourism.

But we won't buy season tickets again. When you see one begonia, you've seen them all.

Wrong kind of tourists, Rachele said 'Farang tourists' and this is essentially correct.. As has been expounded before on the Forum the great influx of Thai visitors meant it was difficult for overseas tourists to book transport to Chiang Mai and to find accommodation. That meant many foreign visitors simply did not come to Chiang Mai during the period of Royal Flora.

Turning it into a botanical garden however is a good idea and should not have the same negative impact at businesses aimed largely at the Farang trade.

Edited July 18, 2007 by miltonbentley