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Any place in
Thailand where the temperature can drop to zero Celsius in the winter
has to be considered exotic. Yet 160 kilometers north of Chiang Mai and
at an altitude of 140 meters, the Royal Project at Doi Angkhang Station
is nothing if not different from the rest of the country. The immediate
climate allows a number of foreign flowers, fruits and vegetables to
flourish here and in other villages around Thailand north country. That
Thailand hill tribes are growing these plants at all is thanks to the
local population with a suitable means of earning a living.
The project's
first forays into this area came in 1969, with the grafting of foreign
peach stocks to local trees. Since then, plums, kiwi fruit, avocados,
strawberries and raspberries have all been added to the list of fruits
grown in Northern Thailand but not originally from the region. The list
of foreign flowers here is even lengthier.
A number of
vegetables not native to the Kingdom have also made their mark in recent
years. Among these are carrots and cabbages, beetroots and butternut
squash, radishes and Japanese pumpkins, any one of which could leave you
bewildered, wondering if you are indeed in Thailand at all.
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