Chinese flower power hits
Thais By Marwaan Macan-Markar
FANG, Thailand - On the misty hills of
northern Thailand the chill in the air encourages
roses to grow larger than apples. Hundreds of
these large blooms - in colors ranging from red
and crimson, to orange and white - are harvested
daily to feed the flower markets of Bangkok.
Roses, carnations and chrysanthemums are
part of a bouquet of 30 types of flowers that are
commercially cultivated in this part of Thailand,
which borders Myanmar.
"This is the peak
production season for roses," said Suthat
Pleumpanya, manager of a floral project initiated
by Thailand's royal family to raise the standard
of living of the rural poor. "They
bloom best between
February and July. The elevation and the
environment are very conducive to these flowers,
especially the roses."
But there are signs
the business in roses and carnations grown in
Fang, which is 1,100 meters above sea level, may
soon fade thanks to competition from growers in
China's southern Yunnan province.
"In
Chiang
Mai [the province where Fang is located], we
grow a lot of flowers, but now the growers are having
a surplus because of the flowers coming from
Kunming," the capital of Yunnan, said Chuntana
Suwanthada, a horticulturist at the agriculture
faculty in Chiang Mai University. "We are worried
about the Chinese flowers overtaking ours."
She conceded that the flowers from China
are cheaper and the "quality much better". It is a
view echoed in the major flower markets in
Bangkok, such as the sprawling Pak Klong Talat, on
the banks of the Chao Phraya River. The women who
run the flower shops, the market vendors and the
street sellers say they have only Chinese roses to
offer, in addition to imported carnations, lilies
and gerberas.
"We have been getting a lot
of Chinese flowers since two years ago," said
Patthama Praephon, 53, as she opened a newly
arrived box of red roses from China. "These will
be going to the south, to Phuket and Songkhla."
Wholesale flower traders such as Patthama,
who has been in the business for nearly 30 years,
say the flowers from China are delivered within
two days of placing the order. "Some of them may
be more expensive, but they last longer and are
more beautiful."
The Bangkok-based
Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) has already warned
that when the October 2003 free trade agreement
(FTA) that Thailand signed with China is expanded
to cover other products, the balance will tilt in
favor of the flowers coming from Kunming, which
has a climate described as "an eternal spring".
Such a reality will only add to the damage
the FTA has caused to other agricultural products.
The cheaper imports of garlic and onions from
China in the wake of the agreement have put nearly
40% of Thai farmers out of business, says FTA
Watch, a group made up of Thai activists opposed
to such free trade deals. "About 50,000 farming
households have been affected."
What Thai
cut-flower growers are up against is a policy by
Beijing to produce 4 billion cut-flower stems by
2010, up from 2 billion in 2000, according to
available studies. "At present, China is the
largest producer and consumer of cut-flowers in
the world," the KRC said. "The sheer volume of
China's cut flowers accounts for one-third of the
world's production of cut flowers."
The
savior for Thailand in the days ahead will be the
country's orchids, said Chuntana. "We have a good
variety and good quality and there is a high
demand in foreign countries." These markets
include the world flower capital, Amsterdam, and
the United States. Thailand is the third-largest
exporter of flowers to the US, after Mexico and
the Netherlands.
Besides China and
Thailand, the other Asian countries competing in
the global flower market are Malaysia and India,
while Japan's floriculture products largely cater
to a domestic market.
Thailand has already
set its sights on a major flower exhibition later
this year to showcase its floral abundance that
caters to foreign and local tastes. The event, to
be held in Chiang Mai from November 6 to January
31, celebrates two events linked to the country's
revered monarch King Bhumibol Adulyadej - his
diamond jubilee on the throne and his 79th
birthday.
The exhibition, due to have
flowers and plants from foreign countries as well,
is already being billed as a successor to a flower
exhibition that has become a hit in Yunnan.
"Thailand could maintain the park as a new
tourist attraction, as China did following the
Kunming Horticulture Exposition in 1999 [which has
attracted more than 2 million people]," Doek
Faber, president of the International Association
of Horticulture Producers, was quoted in the
Bangkok Post recently.
The prospect of
another slice of China in Thailand's world of
flowers matters little to locals who buy roses,
carnations, orchids and lotus to mark special
occasions. Flowers are bought for visits to the
temples, by students for their teachers to mark
Teachers' Day, to be floated away in rivers and
canals during the annual Loi Krathong festival,
for Valentine's Day and weddings, among other
events.
"The demand for flowers depends on
the economy, but the people don't know where they
come from," Pak Klong Talat flower vendor
Samittupat Jarnlan said. "They don't ask. The
Chinese flowers are here to stay."
