Captivating Vandas of Suang Phueng

Recently I brought a friend who loves orchids up to Suang Phueng. He is impressed with the varieties of Vandas found there. This is my second visit and can't help captivated by its colors & beauty too.

Caught up with Khun Lek again and learned quite a bit on the upkeep of these beautiful flowers.
























































































































































































































































































If you love orchids, this place will surely interest you.

Heard of a place call Suan Phueng?

Ratchaburi springs another surprise to me recently. I came to know of a large orchid farm, claimed to be the largest in Thailand in a place called Suan Phueng, part of Ratchaburi Province to the west bordering Myanmar. So I took a drive there to check it out.

After the visit, I realized this area was featured in BangkokPost travel article early this year. It is accessible only in recent years.













It wasn't difficult to find Suang Phueng Orchid Farm.





















I wasn't disappointed upon arrival, these orchids at the entrance are simply gorgeous!
































It occupies 6 rai (1 rai = 40 x 40 m) of land and was delightful to walk around with its cool climate here.
































Khun Lek, the owner, told me his story of giving up his career in Bangkok and took over the family biz. He established the farm here 6 six years ago with his brother. I also learn from him this place has the elevation similar to Chiang Mai. During the cooler months, night temperatures can drop to 7 to 8 deg C.





















I noticed numerous new resorts are opening up here. This one I favor is Mediterranean styled.




























































I would definitely come back this way again.

Harvest time at a shrimp farm

One evening I had a call from P'Jiap, "I am harvesting shrimps tomorrow morning, would you like to come and see how we do it?"

"Sure, of course!" As I am not a early riser, it was past 10.30 am arriving his farm. A refrigerated truck parked by a sorting shed.
















Many busy hands were sorting out the shrimps harvested, picking the smaller ones into separate bins. Larger ones are about 33 to a kilo, being raised just over 5 months.





















Water were drained before being weighed.
















Shrimps were chilled in ice cold water. "Is it to sedate them so they won't jump while sorting?" I asked.
"It firms up their meat too." P'Jiap answered.





















After weighing, ice chips are added to chill the shrimps during transport. These large ice blocks on ground are for later use.
















Next we drove to the pond to watch the harvesting process. Workers were dragging a net across the pond from one end to the other.

This part of work is outsourced to a specialized contractor. The operator has more than a hundred teams, each with about a dozen workers! So one can imagine the vibrancy of harvesting biz in this region! But according to another friend, the scale of farming output here is small compared to southern Thailand!





















This is the third & last round. About 90% will be harvested by now. After that water will be drained completely to harvest the remainder.
















The enclosed area get smaller and tighter as the net was roped in.





















Concentration of shrimps forced many to leap continually in attempt to escape, demonstrating a strong natural survival instinct.
















The net kept tightening in with each step they made.
































Till small enough to scoop them up by buckets.















































It's time to haul them up finally.
















A human chain was formed to haul in the catch into a waiting truck for transport to the sorting shed.
















Later in the day, P'Jiap brought me a box full of shrimp (>10Kg must be) as he always does after a harvest. I made prawn noodles for diner.

Next day I called him to say I found the prawn shells very thin.
"Yes, the shrimps are shedding old shell around this time and that's why I choose to harvest now" he said.

Life is good here isn't it?

A monk hood initiation procession

I often take the coastal route from Hat Chao Samran towards Ban Laem on the way back to Bangkok. This time I saw a row of men with colorful umbrellas lined the road. Well, some event must be going on... so I made an U-turn to check it out.
















Armed with camera, the locals knew I am a passing tourist and directed me into a private compound where a ceremony was going on. The color of these fabrics caught my immediate attention as I walked in.





















I was just in time to watch a procession of young ladies in traditional costumes went on stage collecting elms of flowers. Without a clue, this is part of a wedding ceremony I thought. The lady dressed in gold carried a golden pillow could be the bride. A friend pointed out later, this is an initiation ceremony for a family member entering monk hood. The lady is likely his fiancee.
















More ladies came out in line towards the main road.
















It became obvious why the men lined the road with waiting umbrellas..
















These young ladies found their spots in front.
















Young mother adjust her daughter's costume to look her best.





















At the head of the procession, she is the prettiest of all - like a princess, look a bit under stressed though.





















Soon the band started to play and led the procession towards a temple few hundred meters away. This must be a wealthy local family to have such an elaborate procession.
















Two weeks later, I witnessed another on a much modest scale in comparison.
















This time I looked out for the new monks - 3 of them actually!





















Count myself lucky to pass at the right time to catch a glimpse of an event in local life.