MORE THAN THEIR RARE SHARE
Dedicated plant collectors know they must be first in line at the market if they want that prize specimen
The early bird gets the worm, so serious collectors do not visit Chatuchak plant market on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They go on Tuesdays, in order to be the first to get their hands on rare or newly introduced plants. The market does not really get busy until 6pm, when office people have returned from work, but many stalls are ready for business as early as 3pm.
Last week I went to see what the market was like on a Tuesday. On the street to your right — if you come out the weekend market exit of Kamphaeng Phet MRT station — a number of stalls were selling wild orchids, hoya and ferns. I don’t remember ever seeing as many vendors of forest plants on Wednesdays or Thursdays, and no wonder. Some of them are there only for one day on the Tuesday; by Wednesday they are gone.
Chatuchak on a Tuesday was reminiscent of a bygone era, when plants were sold at the weekend market at Sanam Luang. The plant section was along Klong Lod, and as in Chatuchak, plant enthusiasts went to see what was on offer before the actual market days. Wild species, in particular, had a large following and on Friday night, as vendors unloaded crates upon crates of plants collected from Thai jungles, eager collectors were already waiting. The pavement where the plants were sold was poorly illuminated, but this did not discourage the buyers, who carried their own torches to better see the plants.
At the time people knew neither about conservation nor the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, otherwise known as Cites, so plants collected from the forests were openly sold at the weekend market.
On Tuesday I was surprised to see several vendors selling wild plants at Chatuchak. They claimed these were from Prachin Buri, but if collecting had gone unabated over the years, Thai jungles would have been depleted by now. The ferns, mainly Platycerium ridleyi, or staghorn fern, and Drynaria quercifolia, or oak-leaf fern, are not natives of the region and either came from southern Thailand or neighbouring countries. With five or six vendors selling the same plants, one wonders if there are any left where these came from.
While some of the vendors said the plants were from Prachin Buri, others claimed they were collected from rubber and mango plantations in southern Thailand. The plants, however, obviously came from the same source, wherever that may be.
Ferns and orchids collected from the wild rarely survive in Bangkok’s climate because the city lacks the humidity that these plants are used to in their natural habitat. Besides, buying wild plants encourages villagers to go to the forests to collect more, stripping the country of these natural resources.
Some stall owners specialise in variegated plants but sell only one or two of a kind, another reason why collectors go to Chatuchak before these sell out. The stalls are known as krongkarn and last Tuesday Mr Tee-uan in Krongkarn 13 had variegated Ficus lyrata, known in Thai as sai bai sak; Ficus triangularis, or sai sam liem, and Macaranga sp among others. Since they are rare, the plants are not cheap. The 60cm Ficus lyrata was priced at 1,000 baht. Newly introduced plants, like Clitoria fair
childiana, commonly known as the butterfly pea tree, from Brazil, are also rather expensive. A two-metre specimen was selling for 1,500 baht and a smaller one 800 baht when I first saw this beautiful tree with violet flowers two months ago. On Tuesday, two yet smaller versions were selling much more cheaply. The stall owner, Mrs Nueng, has a nursery in Tha Mai, in Chanthaburi, and sells several other ornamental trees with foreign origins. She is ready for business by 3pm on Tuesdays and gone by 1pm on Wednesdays. As more gardeners grow the edible fig,
Ficus carica, suppliers can hardly propagate plants fast enough to meet demand. Mrs Tam, who has a nursery in Phichit province, sells varieties from Mediterranean countries as well as from Japan and the US every week, but supply is limited so you have to be an early bird. If you need a hundred plants to start a plantation, you will have to place an order.
Just last week I received an email from reader Joyce Ignacio asking about rosemary. “Rosemary is known to rejuvenate the brain and I want to grow it. Do you know if it is sold at Chatuchak?” she asked.
The answer is yes. Apart from figs, Mrs Tam in Krongkarn 9 had several potted rosemary plants last Tuesday. However, I do not guarantee that they will be still there when you go to the market yourself, as plants keep changing and what you see one week may not be there the following week. To check or to order a plant, call the Phichit nursery owner on 08-2359-2392.
I have never been to Phichit but Mrs Tam’s assistant, who grew the plants himself, said it has the same climate as Bangkok. He was sure his rosemary would thrive here if you do not overdo the tender loving care and water it daily until it drowns. In other words, rosemary does not like soggy soil.