BKK2018 | Guardian of the Garden

Photo by Your City Promdi

Bangkok is one of Southeast Asia's leading cities, and yet it manages to keep its traditions. Maybe it's the strong monarchy, or the fact that the country had never been subjugated by outside any other power, or even the people of Bangkok themselves, but the city was able to meld the local culture with modernity.

The result is a vibrant urban atmosphere that feels both organic and energetic.

In order to experience more of that Thai culture, on this visit to Bangkok, I made sure to visit at least one museum despite my tight schedule. With the help of Google Maps, I narrowed down my museum hunt those within 20 minutes of my Bangkok hotel along Petchaburi Road. I found the Siam Museum, which was closed, and the Museum of Floral Cultures. My choice was made: as soon as I landed and checked into my hotel, off I went to what I called the 'flower museum'!

Garden in the heart of the city

It took my Grab driver a few wrong turns to discover the museum's location, nestled as it is in a residential neighborhood. Nondescript from the outside, it offers a surprising visual and cultural feast on the inside.

Photo by Your City Promdi

Housed in a century-old house, the museum welcomed me with a display of fresh blossoms on leading to a cafe, and a fountain decked in plants and veiled by a curtain of arranged flowers. After paying my registration for a guided tour (about 150THB), I hung around a bit in the front garden to wait for my tour set to start. Inching closer to the house, I noticed a set-up of mirror with flower arrangements next to the steps to the museum house. In front of the house were a few chairs--perhaps for waiting guests--and beyond that is a tiny pocket garden almost completely surrounded with tropical plants and adorned with a table shaded with a huge umbrella.

Looking to the wooden house itself, I found myself faced with the stern notice to take off my shoes. That's something I took well given the high polish of the wood steps leading to the museum porch, which wraps around the front and the one side of the house. The front has a little notice board with tiny clippings about the museum, and the side porch features several table set-up for guests who want to enjoy a bit of tea and sweets.

Welcoming guests is this fountain flanked by plants and a curtain of shells and flowers. (Photo by Your City Promdi)

Meet the guardian: Sakul Intakul

Your City Promdi with Sakul Intakul. 

The Museum of Floral Cultures began through the efforts of Sakul Intakul.

He was hanging out in the front cafe when I arrived. I thought at first that he was a casual tourist like me, only realizing who he was after I've had the full tour and he came up to me to ask how I liked the place and to add me on Facebook. For such an accomplished person, he was really down-to-earth.

A renowned Thai floral artist, his designs had been featured in fashion runways, glamorous film festivals, lavish weddings and even royal banquets. Still quite active in the industry, his style mixes both the simple, such as a single stem of flower in a small but delicately shaped vase, to truly ornate, as in flowers arranged in one continuous wave installation or as chandeliers for a ballroom. His designs are consciously designed as shapes, perhaps inspired by his past life as an engineer.

According to the guided tour, Sakul Intakul founded the museum as a repository of the unique floral Thai arts and craft across centuries.

'Not flower arrangements'

The tour itself felt friendly. I had an English-speaking guide who took me through the two-story house and through Thai regions and history. We breezed through old framed photos of samples of the use of flowers in different events and occasions from a hundred years back, such as school activities, neighborhood festivities, weddings, royal processions, and funerals. The stories are brought to life by real life examples on display around the museum.

I learned that while Thai people--unconquered by any Western power--appreciated, studied and sometimes assimilated flower arrangements, they stood firm in the way that they used flowers. As my guide said, "What you will see are not flower arrangments. We call them Thai flower craft."

And craft they are indeed. While Western flower arrangements often take the whole flower and leaves to be designed into shape, Thai flower craft takes petals and individual flowers, painstakingly and delicately re-configuring them into something completely new. Thai flower artists primarily use three techniques: sewing, pinning and tying. You have to visit the museum in order to understand how they are used.

The last part of the tour is a walk in gardens and backyard. There are large tropical palms and wild climbing vines that accent the manicured lawns and flowering trees. Off to one corner is a gazebo with wooden furniture and a curtain of flowers, situated next to a swimming pool. The tour guide said that this is often rented for wedding parties.

Photo by Your City Promdi

Some notes for those who wish to visit the museum:
Location: 315 Samsen Rd. Soi 28, Yaek Ongkarak 13, Dusit, Bangkok 10300, Thailand
Business Hours: Everyday, until 6:00pm.