Otherwise officially known as the Nai Lert Park Bangkok International Flower Show, is held annually at the five-star Swissotel Hotel. In its 28th year in 2014, its proceeds go to charitable educational, mental illness cure and children development causes, with recent years’ funds approaching THB 5.0 million ($ 155,000 USD) for the 4-day event.
“Enormous” is not used here to describe the number of floral items as it is used to literally say each floral display or arrangement is simply humongous and impressive.
At the show, take time and concentration to admire each piece. See how meticulously and painstakingly the flower designers and arrangers have created and put together their work. Like putting yourself in a giant garden, full of colorful flowers in various shapes and forms, you get the feeling of being in another world, one filled with fragrance, beauty and grand design.
Driving on Wireless Road in Bangkok, one can’t miss the hug sign announcing the event. At the turnoff to the hotel, a guard stationed at the security post stops visitors, vehicles and pedestrians alike, for a quick visual check and maybe a few questions. Then it’s about a quarter mile (400 meters) drive from which one gets the sense of entering a garden resort. Trees and flowers line the road, and statutes along the way beckon a welcome feeling. One can hear, but not see, soft waterfall sounds coming from some distant spot.
The lobby is expansive. Head to the right of it for check in. Head to the left for the flower show. Or before all that, just take your time and enjoy a couple of tropical cocktails at the bar straight ahead while listening to the two performers, accompanied by a pianist, singing past and present favorites.
At the entrance of the flower show, giant floral birds, bees, rabbits greet visitors. They even have a big pot (of Thai tea?) waiting for guests as well. And the eggs seem to have been freshly laid.
Inside the show, among many others, are five goldfish that most homes would not be big enough to keep, a big red high heel shoe filled with flowers that any girl would envy to own, a reclining mermaid that many a young man would dream about meeting, and a tall flower vase that if filled would break most men’s bank account. An extremely wonderful show, not even counting the events that are part of it: auction of fine paintings, a dining experience given by a world-class chef, and afternoon tea. Rounding it out, to statisfy your gastronomical appetite after fulfilling aesthetic tastes from the show, do the lunch buffet at Swissotel’s ISO Restaurant, whose tall-ceilinged dining room with huge windows overlooking a lush garden area extend and add to the idyllic feeling from the show experience.
For more information: http://www.tourismthailand.org/See-and-Do/Events-and-Festivals/Nai-Lert-Park-Bangkok-International-Flower-Show–5712, http://www.swissotel.com/hotels/bangkok-nai-lert-park
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