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very thai
POTTED GARDENS PORTABLE PLANTS FOR LUCK AND LIFESTYLE
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Photo by John Goss
roof of pots dating from Ayutthayan times lies in the epic tale Khun Chang Khun Phaen, one of several literary sources that influence plant choice even today. Most public and private spaces still favour them over beds for flowers, herbs, bushes, entire trees. Even clinging plants get potted – orchids spring from a slatted wooden basket, creepers are bound to a dangling coconut husk. Lining a balcony, dangling from eaves, bursting through a caged-in roof garden, potted plants are the hobby of the house-proud. When flanking an entrance, garlanding a stage or massed to depict imagery, pot plants express a sense of strict control over nature. Amid barren concrete environments, pot plants become an understandable effort at beauty and civility. Hence the foliage sprouting from plastic cups, bottles, and even old light bulbs tied to lamp posts at some motorcycle taxi ranks. Yet the urge to pot is not just urban but rural, canalside and coastal. Looking closer, patterns emerge. Most of the ceramic pots follow a few standard styles. Certain plants pop up in the same position in different gardens. You can barely enter any premises without passing the lucky, eightbloomed Crown of Thorns, known to Thais by its Chinese name poi sian, meaning eight divinities. Upwardly mobile Thai have warmed to Western landscaping, with a special fondness for fluted pots and Greek statues atop scalloped fountains to match neo-classical mansions. Thailand’s first deliberately landscaped grounds were laid out in palaces by Chao Phraya Worabhong as one of the Westernisations King Rama V encouraged. For commoners, however, husbanding an entire property takes too much energy in this climate, hence the focus on frontal display: forecourts get primped, gates garlanded, doors festooned. With disorder held at bay, pots become the sufficient gesture.
Very Thai: Everyday Popular Culture is a book that almost every foreigner living in Bangkok has on their bookshelf, a virtual bible on Thailand’s pop culture. For page after colourful page, city resident and author Philip Cornwel-Smith guides readers on an unconventional tour of the quirky everyday things that make Thailand truly Thai. From the 60plus mini-chapters, we present a different excerpt every month. Prepare yourself properly for the sideways logic in what seems exotic, and snap up a copy of Very Thai now at any goodbook shop. Very Thai – River Books l B995 l hardcover, with photos by John Goss and Philip Cornwel-Smith
www.bangkok101.com
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august 2011
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