A Visit to Thailand

I have spent the past ten days on Phuket Island (Thailand), and in Bangkok. We chose this time of the year to go because of the school holidays, and struck the end of the monsoon season - ever seen 250mm of rain fall on the one day? The monsoon season lasts from May to the end of October in Phuket. However, we didn't strike too much rain except on our last two days on Phuket.

Phuket Island is situated on the Andaman Sea off the south west coast of Thailand. The islands terrain varies from rocky beaches and long broad sweeps of sand, to limestone cliffs and forested hills. It has good beaches, tropical vegetation and a pleasant relaxed atmosphere. Rice paddies, plantations of rubber and cashew nuts, cacao, pineapple, and coconut and the last bit of Phuket rainforest are what one sees on a drive around the island.

On the first morning we looked through the bedroom window, towards the sea, which we saw through a small glade of coconut palms spaced out over a smooth stretch of lawn. We walked to the dining room, via the lawn and the beach, past several beds of orchids, bougainvilleas and other species of indigenous plants, thinking all the while of the probable ease with which these splendid plants are cultivated in this part of the world.The window boxes were filled to overflowing with bougainvilleas.

The Hotel and Beach Resort was on the south west coast of Phuket Island, and I suppose one might say the gardens there were pretty typical of the ones found in this area. The vegetation was lush, as one would expect with a rainfall of 2500 mm (100 inches) per year. Orchids, bougainvilleas, palm trees, and very lush lawns add to the relaxing atmosphere. Another plant we recognised was the "Portulaca", a useful plant for groundcover in hot and dry position, and very useful for our climate I can tell you. As a matter of fact, when I got home I went out and bought one - a variety called the "Mango Cocktail".

Orchids, hibiscus, gardenia, banana, and mango appear to be the main types of plants grown in the gardens around Phuket.

One interesting activity gardeners in this part of the world get up to is to keep the coconut palms trimmed. When the coconut is about ripe, the gardener will climb the tree and remove the offending coconut. It is purely a safety matter (imagine the insurance pay out from a coconut falling on a guest's head), and the gardener, of course, takes a quick drink of the coconut milk to sort of refresh the inner man.

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