Royal Flora Ratchaphruek

Last updated
EXPO 2006-2007 Chiang Mai
Flora-expo-royal-pavillion1.jpg
Royal Pavilion
Overview
BIE-classHorticultural exposition
NameRoyal Flora Ratchaphurek
Motto"To Express Love For Humanity"
Area80 hectares (200 acres)
Visitors3,781,624
Participant(s)
Countries30
Location
CountryThailand
City Chiang Mai
VenueRoyal Agricultural Research Center
Coordinates 18°44′45.4″N98°55′31.8″E / 18.745944°N 98.925500°E / 18.745944; 98.925500
Timeline
AwardedDecember 1, 2005 (2005-12-01)
OpeningNovember 1, 2006 (2006-11-01)
ClosureJanuary 31, 2007 (2007-01-31)
Horticultural expositions
Previous 2003 World Horticultural Exposition in Rostock
Next Floriade 2012 in Venlo
Specialized expositions
Previous Expo '98 in Lisbon
Next Expo 2008 in Zaragoza
Universal expositions
Previous Expo 2005 in Aichi
Next Expo 2010 in Shanghai

The Royal Flora Ratchaphruek was an international horticultural exposition held 1 November 2006 to 31 January 2007 in the Thai city Chiang Mai of Chiang Mai Province that drew 3,781,624 visitors. Recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), it was one of the grand celebrations hosted by the Royal Thai Government in honor of King Bhumibol, the world's longest reigning monarch.

Contents

The ratchaphruek ( Cassia fistula ), or golden shower tree, is the de facto national flower of Thailand. Its yellow blossoms correspond to Monday, the birthday of Bhumibol. It is also named "Khun" or "Rajapruek".

The event was located on 80 hectares of land at the Royal Agricultural Research Center in the Mae Hia sub-district, Mueang district, Chiang Mai Province in northern Thailand. The 92 days of the expo featured 30 international gardens reflecting nations such as Japan, South Korea, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa, and Canada. More than 2.5 million trees of 2,200 species of tropical plants and flowers were on display in this exhibition. The Association of International Horticultural Producers (AIPH), gave this expo A1 status, [1] its highest level. Such exhibitions occur only once a year throughout the world. In addition, a host country can only hold one such exhibition once a decade.

The festival included many highlights to attract tourists:

The Thai government had expected an average of 20,000 visitors per day, with over 100,000 visitors on a crowded day, and 3 million visitors in total to attend the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006. At the exposition's conclusion, organizers claimed that the exposition had injected 27 billion baht into the regional economy.

The Thai government has proposed transforming the site of the exposition into a permanent training center. Despite some complaints of corruption and substandard facilities, organizers believed the exposition achieved its goals of promoting tourism and developing Thai horticultural industries. [2]

The park was open to the public in 2008 with many of the past highlights still very much in evidence, including the international exhibits. It is thought that it will remain to stay open as a valued addition to things to do in Chiang Mai. The park receives around 500 visitors a day at the moment, mainly Thai.

Related Research Articles

Worlds fair Large international exhibition

A world's fair is a large international exhibition designed to showcase achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a period of time, ranging usually from three to six months.

Bureau International des Expositions Organization to supervise international exhibitions

The Bureau international des expositions is an intergovernmental organization created to supervise international exhibitions falling under the jurisdiction of the Convention Relating to International Exhibitions.

Expo 2005

Expo 2005 was a World Expo held for 185 days between Friday, March 25 and Sunday, September 25, 2005, in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, east of the city of Nagoya. Japan has also hosted Expo '70 Osaka, Expo '75 Okinawa, Expo '85 Tsukuba, and Expo '90 Osaka and will host Expo 2025 Osaka.

Expo 75

Expo '75 was a World's Fair held on the island of Okinawa in Japan from July 20, 1975 to January 18, 1976.

National Science Museum (Thailand)

The National Science Museum Thailand (NSM) is a state enterprise established on 30 January 1995 under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. NSM develops and currently operates 4 museums and 2 learning centers to raise public awareness of science for Thai society. The museums are the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Information Technology Museum and RAMA 9 Museum. All the museums are located at Technopolis Khlong 5, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani. The NSM's learning centers are NSM Science Square @ the Street Ratchada located in Bangkok and NSM Science Square @ Chiang Mai located in Princess Siridhorn AstroPark.

Shenyang China International Horticultural Exposition

Shenyang China International Horticultural Exposition 2006 (2006中国沈阳世界园艺博览会) was a horticultural exhibition recognised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers in Shenyang, China

Seville Expo 92

The Seville Expo '92 was a universal exposition that took place from Monday, April 20 to Monday, October 12, 1992 on La Isla de La Cartuja, Seville, Spain. The theme for the Expo was "The Age of Discovery", celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus reaching the Americas after launching from Seville's port, and over 100 countries were represented. The total amount of land used for the Expo was 215 hectares and the total number of visitors was 41,814,571. The exposition ran at the same time as the smaller and shorter-duration Genoa Expo '92, a Specialized Exhibition, held in the birth city of Christopher Columbus.

Garden festival Festival and exposition to celebrate gardening and gardens

A garden festival is a festival and exposition held to celebrate the arts of gardening, garden design, landscaping and landscape architecture. There are local garden festivals, regional garden festivals, national garden festivals and international garden festivals. The idea probably originated with Germany's Bundesgartenschau. The UK held five garden festivals in the period 1984–1992.

Expo 2016 Horticultural exposition in Antalya, Turkey

Expo 2016 was an international horticultural exposition held in Antalya, Turkey. With the support and endorsement of both the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), Expo 2016 Antalya was the first A1 Category International Horticultural Exhibition to be held in Turkey.

Taipei International Flora Exposition

The 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition opened on 6 November 2010 and ran until 25 April 2011 in Taipei, Taiwan. It was a garden festival recognized by the International Association of Horticultural Producers and was categorized as an A2/B1 horticulture exposition. It was the first such internationally recognized exposition to take place in Taiwan, and the seventh of its kind to take place in Asia. It is located near Yuanshan Station. The area is now converted to Taipei Expo Park.

Bhutan–Thailand relations Bilateral relations

The bilateral relations between the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Kingdom of Thailand were established in 1989. Thailand is one of the only 53 nations with formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan.

AIPH

The International Association of Horticultural Producers is an international organization dedicated to promoting horticultural producers and held the international garden / flora festivals or expositions.

Xian China International Horticultural Exposition

Xi'an China International Horticultural Exposition 2011 is a horticultural exhibition recognised by the International Association of Horticultural Producers in Xi'an, China to be held between 28 April and 22 October 2011. During the 178-day exhibition, the tourists were anticipated to top 12,000,000. And there are 109 outdoor exhibition houses altogether. Kerry Berry Brogan served as the International Green Ambassador.

Floriade 2012

The Floriade 2012 was a Dutch horticultural exposition held in Venlo, Netherlands. It was the nineteenth AIPH world horticultural exhibition and the sixth Floriade and was held from April 5 to October 7, 2012. The Floriade 2012 was opened by Queen Beatrix. The exposition's theme and slogan was "Be part of the theatre in nature; get closer to the quality of life".

Parc floral de Paris

The Parc floral de Paris is a public park and botanical garden located within the Bois de Vincennes in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Created in 1969, the park remains the legacy of the international horticultural exposition, which was organised under the auspices of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) and recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). It is one of four botanical gardens in Paris, and is the site of major annual flower shows. The nearest metro station to the park is Chateau-de-Vincennes.

International Garden Expo 83 was a garden festival containing 170 exhibition contributors. The international horticultural exposition was recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and held from April 28 to October 9, 1983, at Westpark in Munich, Germany. Ralph Siegel wrote the Flower Serenade as official song of the exhibition; it was recorded by Hugo Strasser and his orchestra. The German Federal Post Office issued a special stamp with a stylized flower.

The International Gartenbauausstellung 73 was a garden festival held in Hamburg, Germany, which was recognized by the Bureau International des Expositions. The exposition was the 6th edition of the international horticultural exposition organised under the auspices of the Association of International Horticultural Producers (AIPH) and the second held at Planten un Blomen park in Hamburg. The exhibition took place on the same site where IGA 63 was held a decade earlier. There were some changes to the site location, such as the vaulting of the Marseillerstrasse so that visitors throughout the area without crossing could visit. Instead of a cable car, a park trail was constructed on the site to provide for visitors. The line had four stations and took 30 minutes to complete a lap.

Wiener Internationale Gartenschau 74

The Wiener Internationale Gartenschau 74, often shortened to WIG 74, was a garden festival held in Vienna, Austria. Recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions, the Expo was the second international horticultural exposition to be held in Vienna under the auspices of the AIPH. The plans for the Expo began to develop shortly after the closing of the WIG 64 held a decade earlier. Following the success of the 1964 exposition, the council was urged to re-organize a horticultural exhibition. An area on the south side of town that had once served as a recording field for silent films was ideally suited to create a large park. In 1969, architect Erich Hanke won an international design competition. He then formed several working groups of landscape architects from various countries, who made different designs for parts of the site. The best designs were incorporated into the grounds. A monorail was built to transport the visitors, but was eventually scrapped due to lack of success.

The Taichung World Flora Exposition is an AIPH horticultural exposition held between 3 November 2018 and 24 April 2019 in Houli District, Taiwan. There were 33 participating countries.

2023 World Horticultural Exposition or Expo 2023 is an International Horticultural Expo to be hosted by Doha, Qatar. The Horticultural Expo 2023 Doha will begin on 14 October 2023 and conclude on the 17 March 2024. Originally scheduled to be held from 14 October 2021 to 17 March 2022, but it was rescheduled to 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) general assembly in Paris formally recognised it on 22 November 2018 as an International Horticultural Exhibition. The Expo will be organized under the theme "Green Desert, Better Environment". An 80 hectare site has been identified.

References

  1. "AIPH – Exhibitions, history" . Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  2. "Expo closes with ceremony of allegiance to His Majesty" . Retrieved 2 August 2011.