Flower power

Orchids are the stars of a Hollywood movie and international bestseller about flower thieves and smugglers. These exotic flowers grow in many tropical and subtropical parts of the world, and in Thailand they are found in abundance in the northern province of Sukhothai, a place immersed in history and its own intrigue.

I am standing in a crowd that is milling around a collection of these beautiful blooms. The crowd is waiting for the announcement of the best.

This is the first Sukhothai Orchid Festival. The theme is Chang Chon Chang, which translates as "Fighting of the Elephants". More than 10,000 orchid species, gathered throughout Thailand, are displayed in their glory at the event.

Orchid obsession gained international exposure in Susan Orlean's bestseller "The Orchid Thief", which then became the hit movie "Adaptation". However, the fascination with the flower goes back centuries.

In Victorian England, the aristocracy would send orchid hunters to exotic places to bring back rare species. Perhaps some visited Sukhothai? These collectors were seized by orchid mania. It even had a name: Orchidelirium.

And at the Sukhothai Orchid Festival, you can see why. But the orchid experience begins here even before leaving the city's airport.

The senior director of Sukhothai airport, Damrongwoot Viriya, has also been struck by orchidelirium. So much so that he has bred his own species and keeps these fascinating flowers in a huge greenhouse at the airport.

Stepping off the tarmac, the passenger is immediately transported to a world of blooming opulence. The airport nursery boasts hundreds, if not thousands, of orchids. A net canopy covers the hanging blooms in an Asian version of Babylon's Hanging Gardens. Their roots descend like fingers, grasping for anchorage.

Some seem playful, their petals forming laughing faces. Some seem serious and stand regally, displaying their extravagant yellow petals. Some curling petals resemble the mane of a lion. Some of the flowers look like menacing insects hovering on stems; others have voluptuous petals and a sense of sexuality. Some are miniatures and one smells like chocolate.

All are mesmerising.

Viriya says Sukhothai province, just under an hour's flight north of Bangkok, provides the perfect climate for the delicate flowers.

"They don't need soil," Viriya says proudly. "Just the Sukhothai air."

Though he does admit that a fertiliser spray with nutrients helps.

Some delicate orchids are like royalty, to be seen but not touched.

People passionate about orchids say it's like being "love sick". The desire for orchids, they say, is a seductive drug - like an enticing, beautiful woman.

"No 3," shouts a judge back at the festival. He has the number written on a piece of paper. The excitement mounts and a murmur runs through the crowd.

"No 3," repeats the judge.

Beads of sweat roll from furrowed brows among the orchid owners. They glance at each other. The judge is now shifting from foot to foot and whipping up enthusiasm.

"It's like an election," someone exclaims. A hush then falls as the crowd waits in anticipation. It seems more like a beauty pageant than a flower show.

It is indeed No 3, a chang or elephant orchid, which takes the prize. A blue ribbon is placed on the pot in which the winning flower stands proud and sure.

The elephant orchid, family name Rhyncholstylis, is also the festival's emblem and suits the elephant theme of the event. It resembles the trunk of an elephant. In full bloom, its purple petals look as if a herd of pachyderms are waving their trunks in the air.

The chang orchid is quite unusual, and judges and enthusiasts stay behind to admire the plant.

Sukhothai Governor Wanchai Sutin opened the inaugural festival by sounding a gong in celebration of the 80th birthday of His Majesty the King. The governor hopes the festival will encourage people to cultivate orchids. He wants orchid exports to grow into a flourishing industry for the community.

"The event is good for competition and the festival has been very successful," said Wanchai, adding that he'd overheard many visitors say it was "better" than the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek show in neighbouring Chiang Mai.

"Next year the Sukhothai Orchid Festival will be held in conjunction with the celebration of the first King of Thailand."

For more than 100 years, Sukhothai served as the capital of Siam. The area was part of the Khmer empire until mid-13th century, when two T'ai princes combined forces to fight the Khmer. They declared independence and the first Kingdom of Siam was born.

Siam enjoyed a golden age under King Ramkhamhaeng, who is said to have created the Thai alphabet. Historians refer to this as a period of great cultural creativity. The king developed the arts and his reign saw Buddhism spread through the country.

A bronze statue of this beloved monarch sits on a throne at the Sukhothai historical park. People bow before the great warrior king, offering gifts of incense and marigolds, paying respect to him in a language he helped create.

The gentle hand of Buddha seems to guide you through the ancient Sukhothai ruins that form two Unesco-protected parks. The name of the city literally means "the Dawn of Happiness". A visitor can wander through these historical sites, rest in the lush parks or ride a bicycle along the paths. Tranquillity seems to permeate the whole province.

While the elephant orchid is being celebrated at the festival at Rama IX Park, an elephant named Tong-Me greedily gobbles up a bunch of bananas. Visitors feed him by hand as he waits to escort them around the ruins at Si Satchanalai historical park.

A shrine shows a row of fighting elephants protecting a statue of Buddha. As Tong-Me lurches past the shrine, we see the trunks of the fighting elephants that have crumbled over time. But they've been replaced by the trunks of prized chang orchids.

The elephant is as much a part of Sukhothai as the pillars standing at the centre of the great Sukhothai temple, Wat Mahathat. They enshrine the pillars of culture and religion that form Thailand today.

Alice Coster

The Nation