Located on Chak Phet Road near the Memorial Bridge, Pak Khlong is a boisterous, thriving marketplace, a flurry of non-stop activity that exudes a whirl of excitement. More than one million dollars in exports move through Bangkok’s largest wholesale and retail flower market every day.
Even though the market is open 24 hours, it is most lively at pre-dawn, between 3:00 and 4:00 AM, when boats and truckloads of fresh cut flowers arrive from nearby provinces while traders and retailers come to buy their stock in bulk.
Most of the flowers sold in the old city market come from Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram provinces, though flowers requiring cooler growing temperatures may come from as far away as Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai.
Hundreds of thousands of blossoms — from local species like jasmine, chrysanthemum, gerbera, orchids, lilies and roses to imports of tulips, snapdragons, iris, lisianthus, and delphinium — pass through the market each day, not to mention the intricately strung garlands and baskets made for Buddhist ceremonies.
The urban poor who make a living stringing and selling phuang malai (flower garlands) buy sacks of jasmine and marigold blossoms. Even though the market is well documented in guidebooks, it receives only a sprinkling of foreign tourists.
Vendors are housed in two or three story shop-houses on both sides of the main road. Hand trucks, dollies, box carts and flatbed trolleys stacked high with produce and flowers zoom by the narrow aisles and makeshift passageways at breakneck speed. Despite its cramped quarters and hectic in-your-face vibe Pak Khlong is still one of the most beautiful, eye-appealing markets in Thailand’s City of Angels.
Gerard Pampalone
I am not a professional garden designer, landscape architect or horticulturalist. I am, for the most part, self-taught.
I don’t garden for a living, I live for gardening.
I came to gardening late in life, so I am making up for lost time.
I hope to share my insights, resources, and gardening experiences. My aim is to educate, enlighten and inspire gardeners to take chances, break new ground, dig deeper and stretch themselves.
As seen in:
Westport Magazine, July 2007
athome Magazine, March/April 2008