A Look At What Is New, Rare And Curious At Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011

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HORTICULTURE

Flower power

Vipasai Niyamabha

Special to The Nation

Chiang Mai

We take a look at what's new, rare and curious at Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011

The name Royal Flora Ratchaphruek has become almost synonymous with Chiang Mai, which was home to the world-class horticultural exhibition hosted by the government in 2006 in honour of the 60th anniversary of His Majesty the King's accession to the throne. Running for three months, the exposition was a resounding success, drawing more than three million visitors from across the globe.

This year, Royal Flora Ratchaphruek is returning to the Royal Agricultural Research Centre's 80 hectares of landscaped greenery in Mae Hia to mark three auspicious occasions: His Majesty's 84th birthday this month, Her Majesty the Queen's 80th birthday next August, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Majavajiralongkorn's 60th birthday next July. After a few weeks delay due to the flooding that has affected much of the kingdom, the expo opens its doors next Wednesday.

Accredited by the Association Internationale des Producteurs Horticoles (AIPH), the theme for the 2011 event is "Greenitude: Reducing Global Warming to Save Planet Earth and Improve the Quality of Life", a timely reminder of the need to protect the environment.

As in 2006, at the heart of the expo is the opulent Hor Kham Royal Pavilion designed by architect Rung Jantabun and surrounded by more 8,000 varieties of flowers and plants. Thirty countries are showcasing their gardens this year and visitors also get to enjoy a new ferris wheel and plenty of other side attractions.

Here's a look at the five highlights of Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2011.

Over and above

A 42-metre-high gleaming ferris wheel aptly named the Giant Flora Wheel will be an unexpected bonus for fair-goers wanting to rise above the entire expo with a view of Doi Suthep as the giant backdrop.

With 27 open gondolas, this modern wheel complements rather than detracts from the green landscape. It raises you to a level on par with being on the 14th floor of a skyscraper. A must-do for kids and adults alike.

A walk on the light side

Join butterflies that glow in the dark as they dance to live music nightly from 6.30 in the "Imagination Light Garden". The presentation also uses LED lights and solar cells that stock energy from the sunlight during the day to power up this charming floral area after dark.

Interestingly, the lights can be interactive with movement, offering some exciting moments for young visitors.

Chilling out in the playground

The Kid's Eco Park is well equipped with innovative knowledge technology to draw the attention of young fair goers. When the sun is too bright, kids can escape into eye-catching buildings and play with interactive mixed media and multimedia learning screen, all created through the animated cartoon mascot of the fair, Nong Khun, and his companies on the environmental themes of global warming and energy conservation.

What's new for repeat visitors?

Those who visited Royal Flora Ratchaphruek in 2006 should come back to the ground if for no other reason than to admire the newly added gardens. The International Gardens section has new entries from Pakistan, South Korea, Nepal, Yemen and Canada while other additional highlights include a Buddha image and a blue poppy in the Bhutan Garden, a multi-headed Ganesh statue at the India Garden and a Dragon Blood tree in Spain's Garden. A new partnership with AirAsia sees the airline creating its own garden complete with a large aircraft!

It's all about nature

It's hard to deny this is a fair created for horticulture enthusiasts in mind. Although the new ferris wheel and light garden will draw general visitors, nature is undeniably the real attraction whether you're visiting the Orchid Pavilion, Lotus Pond, House of Mulberry, Temperate Greenhouse or Bug World.

Do take time to admire the largest collection of orchids in Thailand and the orchid contests, which feature both domestic and international varieties. Bug World is probably the best of all the insect parks in Chiang Mai and offers you the chance to peek at the lifecycle of some fascinating insects in their everyday habitat as well as learn more about the specimens on show.

Lotus, the sacred flower of Thai Buddhists, is a beautiful bloom and this year, the exposition will have a variety of them on display from a giant colour-changing lotus to a miniature lotus and many more cross-breeds you won't see anywhere else in Thailand.

IF YOU GO

Royal Flora Ratchaphruek runs from December 14 to March 14.

For information on accommodation, programmes, timings and registration, visit http://www.royalflora2011.com/2011_en/

-- The Nation 2011-12-07

[OldeBellPedr]

The Ratchapreuck Flower show is an event Chiang Mai could well do without, It serves the interests of a few local merchants - many of whom are very influential on a local level. but is a disaster for the hotel industry, restaurants and the quality of life here in Chiang Mai,It sucks in large numbers of domestic tourists who fill up the trains, planes and buses so that freer spending foreign tourists can't get here. Those that don't clog up the public transport system, drive their cars up and clog up the roads- Chiang Mai can get gridlocked in January as it is, this makes it worse. Ratchapreuk itself detracts from the much better and more established Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai flower festivals. In 2006, aprt from one or two worthy exhibitors from Bhutan and Kenya, many of the flowers died as they weren't suitable for the tropical climate. There were (unproven) allegations that plastic flowers were substituted whem the real ones died!

The Bangkokians went home happy with armfulls of pork scratchings, Chiang Mai Sausage, plastic bags full of Khao Soy and so forth, but when all the summs were added up a tiny profit was made -

they would have made more if they'd stuck the investment in the bank.

For the sake of Chiang Mai's economy let's hope the whole things a flop!

[garrya]

To me this is a must-see.

[HerbalEd]

The Ratchapreuck Flower show is an event Chiang Mai could well do without, It serves the interests of a few local merchants - many of whom are very influential on a local level. but is a disaster for the hotel industry, restaurants and the quality of life here in Chiang Mai,It sucks in large numbers of domestic tourists who fill up the trains, planes and buses so that freer spending foreign tourists can't get here. Those that don't clog up the public transport system, drive their cars up and clog up the roads- Chiang Mai can get gridlocked in January as it is, this makes it worse. Ratchapreuk itself detracts from the much better and more established Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai flower festivals. In 2006, aprt from one or two worthy exhibitors from Bhutan and Kenya, many of the flowers died as they weren't suitable for the tropical climate. There were (unproven) allegations that plastic flowers were substituted whem the real ones died!

The Bangkokians went home happy with armfulls of pork scratchings, Chiang Mai Sausage, plastic bags full of Khao Soy and so forth, but when all the summs were added up a tiny profit was made -

they would have made more if they'd stuck the investment in the bank.

For the sake of Chiang Mai's economy let's hope the whole things a flop!

Maybe it's not always about profit. And it's fine if this event draws way more Thai citizens than tourists .... it is in Thailand, so why not? And if it's a "flop" then that's actually bad for CM economy.

Edited December 8, 2011 by HerbalEd

[Thailand]

Great for Chiang Mai,a must see event that should be at least bi annual in one shape or form as it is a great venue.

[lannarebirth]

The Ratchapreuck Flower show is an event Chiang Mai could well do without, It serves the interests of a few local merchants - many of whom are very influential on a local level. but is a disaster for the hotel industry, restaurants and the quality of life here in Chiang Mai,It sucks in large numbers of domestic tourists who fill up the trains, planes and buses so that freer spending foreign tourists can't get here. Those that don't clog up the public transport system, drive their cars up and clog up the roads- Chiang Mai can get gridlocked in January as it is, this makes it worse. Ratchapreuk itself detracts from the much better and more established Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai flower festivals. In 2006, aprt from one or two worthy exhibitors from Bhutan and Kenya, many of the flowers died as they weren't suitable for the tropical climate. There were (unproven) allegations that plastic flowers were substituted whem the real ones died!

The Bangkokians went home happy with armfulls of pork scratchings, Chiang Mai Sausage, plastic bags full of Khao Soy and so forth, but when all the summs were added up a tiny profit was made -

they would have made more if they'd stuck the investment in the bank.

For the sake of Chiang Mai's economy let's hope the whole things a flop!

I live right around the corner from it and do suffer a bit from the additional traffic and more night noise, but I still think its a fantastic event for Chiang Mai. The Thais abolutely love it and discerning farang do as well. Dozens and dozens of restaurants and shops I see filled everyday with the crowds who come to see The Royal Flora exhibition. I think it's absolutely great for Chiang Mai.