Orchids bought in Thailand, need some ID help please :)

[DebbieW]

I'm a beginner when it comes to orchids. My husband and I are planning to come to Thailand this september. We're going with a group of palm forum members (including my hubby who's a bit of a fanatic with many palms and crotons and other plantings around our jungle with a house), but I'm more interested in orchids. Any suggestions about what to keep my eyes open for when I visit? Where in Thailand do you live?

[SiamOrchid]

Originally Posted by DebbieW

I'm a beginner when it comes to orchids. My husband and I are planning to come to Thailand this september. We're going with a group of palm forum members (including my hubby who's a bit of a fanatic with many palms and crotons and other plantings around our jungle with a house), but I'm more interested in orchids. Any suggestions about what to keep my eyes open for when I visit? Where in Thailand do you live?

Hi Debbie

I live in Chonburi about 90 mins drive out of the capital Bangkok.

There are so many places for you to go looking for orchids here it's insane - both wild and domestic. There are jungle regions, mountain regions, very hot regions and colder places with larger day/night temp variations - Thailand is a lot larger than people think and the opportunities for wild Orchid hunting are endless. As for palms I never knew there were so may until I moved here - I must see a new phenotype every coupe of days - there are about 10 different ones in my garden of which I can identify none!

However if you want to make it a bit easier on yourself than wild hunting you and your husband MUST visit Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. It's about 15 minutes drive from where I live in Chonburi and it is truly spectacular - easily the best I have ever been to. Orchid and palms galore plus a whole bunch of other weird and wonderful stuff and they have a shop there too where you can buy plants ets - they may even sell orchid seeds. It will take you a whole day to get around and entry is 500 baht per adult (30 baht = $1).

Your other great bet is Chiang Mai, a short domestic flight from Bangkok. A lot of places up there that have vast garden centres with all sorts on sale. I believe there are also a couple of specialist orchid farms up there as well as plenty of old traditional Thai culture for you to look at - the hill tribes that extend their necks with brass rings etc... There is also a specialist orchid garden on the island of Phuket I believe.

Good luck with your trip and please feel free to message me on the forum if you need any more advice/help.

Thanks

SO

[DebbieW]

What a coincidence, or shall I say just our luck. We'll be staying at the convention center at Nang Nooch Tropical Gardens!!! Maybe if you post pictures of your palms my husband can tell you their names because he's amazing when it comes to identifying palms and he's familiar with all those Latin names. That is, if you really care about palms. As for me I'll stick to orchids; all the names of the orchids is enough of a challenge for me and much more.
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions. We'll see how much time we have by ourselves away from the group we're traveling with.

My husband said that a lot of the wives go shopping when the men go to palm gardens. My dream would be to get a true Tai Massage because I'm a licensed massage therapist and no continuing education workshop would compare to a Tai massage in Thailand!

My only concern about making reservations for this trip is boarding our irish setter dog who last time we went on vacation he chewed his paw raw where he was boarded. We have no kids so my dog is my baby.

Enough babbling but I'll stay in touch. Thanks again!