Expat in Bangkok: Flowers In My Apartment

(Click on Picture to Enlarge)In the Lobby of my Apartment. Also notice the flowers in front of the reception desk.

Thailand is located in the tropics and has a climate that is hot and moist year-round. Although the Thai's divide the year into three seasons---hot, cold and rainy---I can tell you that there is no season remotely approaching cold. It would be more accurate to say that Thailand has these three seasons---hot, hotter and hottest.

But, with this miserable climate comes lush vegetation. Everything grows, especially flowers, and you can find them everywhere and they are cheap. A dozen roses cost about $3.50. Bangkok's famous wholesale flower market (also the city's main wholesale fruit and vegetable market)—Pak Khlong Talat---is a popular destination not only for tourists, especially the photographers, but also for local consumers, who might want to buy a few cut flowers and are looking for a bargain.

A typical vendor's stall at Bangkok's Pak Klong Talat fresh flower market.

Although surrounded by flowers, I didn't have any in my apartment when I first moved in. I did have a neighborhood flower shop make two very small artificial arrangements, one for the living room and the other for the bath, which looked good enough for what they were, but it was quite obvious that they weren't real.

Then one day, about two years later on, a very beautiful fresh arrangement appeared on one of my living room tables. I knew that my maid, Khun Manerat, had placed them there, and I assumed that they were an extra arrangement from the ones the management places around the building each day, including on a table in front of the elevators on each floor. When I met her in the hall later that day, I thanked her.

Much to my surprise, when the initial arrangement began looking a little old, still beautiful, but not fresh, it was replaced by a new arrangement.

As a few more arrangements appeared, I was beginning to believe that this could be a regular occurrence, and so it has. Every few days for the past four years, Khun Manerat, has brought me a new flower arrangement.

Khun Manerat is my "maebaan," which in Thai literally means "mother of the house."

In my apartment, I have a stunning original oil painting depicting a flower market, which I bought from the gallery representing the Thai artist who painted it, when I first took up residence in Bangkok. Actually, the picture I saw in the gallery was too large for my apartment, and I asked the artist to paint the same picture for me, but smaller. The teak frame was selected by the gallery owner and me.

This photo from Bangkok's fresh flower market, provides a clue as to where the artist might have found his inspiration.

When people ask me why I like Thailand so much, I feel a little bit foolish responding that one reason is that I have a small arrangement of fresh flowers in my apartment every day, but, in fact, these beautiful flowers immeasurably add to the beauty of my life: (Click on any picture to enlarge).