As Udon Thani’s World Horticultural Expo draws heavy fire on social media, Chiang Mai’s Royal Park Rajapruek, which hosted the real thing twice, is still open and still getting visitors.
The Udon Thani expo opened on 1 November at the Nong Dae wetland. Online critics say the gardens look thin for a budget of more than 2.75 billion baht, and many have put photos side by side with the 2006 expo in Chiang Mai. Defenders say that’s not a fair fight. Udon Thani is a Class B event, they point out, while Chiang Mai’s was Class A1.
So we walked around Rajapruek to see what two decades does to an expo site. Not as much as you’d think. The park hosted the A1 event, certified by the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) and a first for Thailand, in 2006, and a second one in 2011. It is now run by the Highland Research and Development Institute, and most of the zones are open to visitors: Ho Kham Luang, the English Garden, the orchid house and the international gardens. The Bhutan, Morocco and India gardens are the ones still looking their best. It draws tourists all year, with winter the busy season.
The park is also getting ready for its Flora Festival 2026, running from 1 December to 28 February 2027 under the theme “20 years of Royal Park Rajapruek”. Expect cool-climate flowers and “Pimonlak”, a plant given its name by royal bestowal.
The first Chiang Mai expo ran from 1 November 2006 to 31 January 2007 to mark the 60th year of King Bhumibol’s reign and his 80th birthday, with a budget of 2.404 billion baht. The second ran from 14 December 2011 to 14 March 2012.
When the shows ended, the government handed the site to the Highland Research and Development Institute, a public organisation, which turned it into a botanical learning centre and cultural attraction. Its landmark is still Ho Kham Luang, the Lanna-style hall in the middle of the grounds.
