oyal Orchid Paradise – at Siam Paragon next week – is ready to live up to its tantalising name - Kupluthai Pungkanon

Orchids are, quite simply, amazing. They’re the standouts at any flower show, and the variations never seem to end. So it’s going to be a major treat for the senses when 20,000 orchids are displayed next week at Siam Paragon.

There will be nine different lineages in 80 colours at “The Royal Orchid Paradise” from May 18 to 24 – the number of hues corresponding to the birthday in December of His Majesty the King, in whose honour the show is being held.

His Majesty pointed out in 1991 that there are many rare species of Thai orchids and encouraged people to help preserve and cultivate them.

Thailand has since become the world’s second-largest orchid exporter after the Netherlands. We ship some Bt2.5 billion worth of blossoms annually and Bt500 million worth of plants.

And yet the Bt10-billion orchid industry is a fraction of the country’s overall flower market, estimated at Bt500 billion, so growers know there’s still a lot of room to ... grow.