Showing 1 - 10 of 66
There's a time and place
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 25/12/2016
» Merry Christmas! Today is a doubly auspicious day, for Christmas falls on a Sunday only once in seven years. Even in Buddhist Thailand, Christmas is a time for celebrations and for immersing one's self in the spirit of the season.
Turns for the better
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 11/12/2016
» Unlike the Philippines, which is battered by no less than 24 typhoons a year, Thailand is hardly hit by typhoons. Thais, therefore, did not know what to expect when Typhoon Gay hit the Gulf of Thailand on Nov 3, 1989. With gale-force winds of 120kph, it killed 529 people, including fishermen and offshore oil rig workers, and rendered 160,000 homeless in the southern provinces of Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Worthy of a name
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 04/12/2016
» Piya Chalermglin, PhD, intrepid plant explorer and extraordinary researcher at the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, recently retired. He spent 20 years of his career surveying the country's plant genetic resources, particularly Magnoliales, which includes the custard apple family Annonaceae and the magnolia family Magnoliaceae. In the process, he earned the distinction of having discovered 17 species new to science, joining the likes of famous botanist Carl Linnaeus and other plant explorers who immortalised their names by inspiring the names of some plants.
All I need is the air that I breathe
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 20/11/2016
» 'Please introduce air plant farms in the Bangkok area," an email I received recently requested. I am sure there are hobbyists growing air plants in their gardens or balconies, but because of high land prices, I doubt it if there are plant nurseries in Bangkok. Be that as it may, I went to my favourite haunt, the Chatuchak midweek market, last Wednesday to ask around.
The strength of the land
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 23/10/2016
» I once wrote an article about His Majesty the King's Royal Project for an information and policy studies institute in London, which commissioned me to write about development issues in this part of the world.
Let the sunshine in
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 02/10/2016
» A Filipino friend of mine who lives in the US was enamoured with a plant he saw on Facebook. It was rather expensive but he bought it anyway. The seller was in the Philippines so he had it delivered to his sister, with whom he stays during his visits home.
Clearing the air
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 18/09/2016
» I posted a photo of a plant on Facebook and was pleased with the interest that it aroused among some friends. "What is it?" several asked. "Is it aloe vera? Is it malunggay [maroom in Thai]?"
No slacking off in hunt for salak
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 14/08/2016
» Roy Cruise sent me an email asking where to find chempedak (Artocarpus integer), salak (Salacca zalacca) and gandaria (Bouea macrophylla) in Thailand. A friend of his in Cavite, Philippines, had asked him to look for the said fruit trees but he has not been able to find them in Mae Hong Son, where he lives. "I was wondering if you had any idea where I may find them?" he asked.
A shrub with the golden touch
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 07/08/2016
» Some gardeners like to grow shrubs and trees that attract birds, bees and butterflies to their garden. One shrub that bees just can't leave alone is Xanthostemon chrysanthus, commonly known as golden penda in its native Australia. It was brought to Thailand by a Chiang Mai plant enthusiast who fell in love with it at first sight during a visit to Queensland in Australia, and named it rak raek pob (love at first sight).
Not just the bee's knees
B Magazine, Normita Thongtham, Published on 24/07/2016
» Following the column on pollination two weeks ago, regular reader Bob Neylon wrote from Pattaya to say that he had a small vegetable garden as well as many fruit trees and shrubs. A couple of years ago, he bought a hive of the stingless variety of bees from the local agriculture department to pollinate his plants. "They have been OK but no real big deal," he wrote.