Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden (), also called Nongnooch Pattaya Garden, is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

and tourist attraction in Chonburi Province,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Located on Sukhumvit road, it can be reached via bus, taxi or private land transportation. It is also a major scientific center dedicated to

cycads Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...

, with its own Cycad Gene Bank. Nong Nooch is the largest botanical garden in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

History

In 1954, Pisit and Nongnooch Tansacha purchased 1,500 rai of land on the garden's modern location. The couple had originally planned to use the land as a fruit location for several foreign and native fruits, including

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

es, and

oranges The orange, also called sweet orange to distinguish it from the bitter orange (''Citrus × aurantium''), is the fruit of a tree in the family Rutaceae. Botanically, this is the hybrid ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis'', between the pomelo (''Citrus m ...

. However, Nongnooch decided to turn the land into a tropical garden after being inspired by a trip abroad. The garden opened to the public in 1980, and in 1983 the garden's management was handed to Nongnooch's son, Kampon. From 1996 to 1997, Kampon expanded the garden's lakes and the soil dug up was placed in a valley which was initially used as a sunflower field. Eventually, Kampon decided to turn the area in the French Gardens based on the Gardens of Versailles, which opened in 1998. In 2016, the park began construction on Dinosaur Valley, which opened in 2017. On 17 May 2018, the ambassador of

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

to Thailand, Che Wang Choel Dorje, gifted the garden nine prayer flags of Bhutan in a Montra flag ceremony. In 2019, controversy ensued when a tourist uploaded images that suggested mistreatment of the elephants in their care, an accusation the Botanical Gardens has disputed.

Areas

Cactus Garden

Located near the main entrance, the Cactus Garden is a tall glasshouse area that houses several species of cactus, including: *''

Echinocactus grusonii ''Kroenleinia grusonii'', popularly known as the golden barrel cactus, golden ball, "mother-in-law's cushion" or "mother-in-law’s chair", is a species of barrel cactus which is endemism, endemic to east-central Mexico. The golden barrel cactus ...

'' (''Mexican golden barrel cactus'') *''Pachycereus pringlei'' *'' Melocactus sergipensis'' *''

Echinopsis ''Echinopsis'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti native plant, native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. , there are about 20 accepted species, ranging from large and treelike types to small ...

'' *''

Lobivia ''Lobivia'' is a genus of Cactus, cacti native species, native to South America from Bolivia, Peru to northwestern Argentina and Northern Chile. Species Species of the genus ''Lobivia'' according to Plants of the World Online : References ...

Garden in the Sky

Designed by Kampon Tansacha, the Garden in the Sky displays several plants, including ferns, cacti, bromeliad, orchids, agave, cycads, croton, bonsai and aglaonema, on an elevated level from the ground, with some plants being hanged from the roof. The area consists of two levels, a LED system to assist the plants in photosynthesis, and a spray system to water the plants. The garden can be accessed by an elevator or the skywalk, which also travels across most of the garden and is 6 km long. Nong Nooch French garden 1

French Gardens

Nong Nooch consists of two French Gardens, which are inspiried by the

Gardens of Versailles The Gardens of Versailles ( ) occupy part of what was once the ''Domaine royal de Versailles'', the royal demesne of the Palace of Versailles, château of Versailles. Situated to the west of the Palace of Versailles, palace, the gardens cover so ...

and opened in 1998, with the idea originating from 1996. In between the French Garden 1 and Thai pavilion are located the nine prayer flags of Bhutan, which were gifted to the garden by the Embassy of Bhutan in 2018. The flags are replaced every 6 months due them fading, and a ceremony is held everytime the new flags are handed to Nong Nooch by the Bhutanese embassy. Prayer flags of Bhutan at Nong Nooch

Dinosaur Valley

In 2016, Kampon Tansacha ordered the molding of the first dinosaur model in the garden, a

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

, which was then placed in the Cactus Garden, whose popularity among tourists caused the garden to construct a section dedicated to dinosaur models. Construction on the section began in 2016 and opened on 10 April 2017. More than 180 replicas of different dinosaur

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

. Dinosaur Valley is located around the French Garden 2.

Italian Garden

The Italian Garden was the first garden created by Nongnooch and contains marble statues from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Stonehenge Garden

The garden contains a replica of

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric Megalith, megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, to ...

and was built in 2000. The stones used in the replica were purchased by Kampon from Prachinburi province and includes an engravement dedicated to Nongnooch.

Activities

In addition to examining the wildlife, tourists experience religious ceremonies,

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

demonstrations, massages, and

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

shows. There are also two restaurants, a small zoo and a hotel with a swimming pool and Thai style rental houses on the grounds. To the garden's east are two lakes which contains Arapaimas gigas from the Amazon river. Tourists can feed the Arapaimas gigas.

Accommodations

Nongnooch contains the Nongnooch Pattaya Garden and Resort, which contains one resort and three villas and are located besides the lake containing the Arapaimas gigas. Nong Nooch

Plants

Cycads

The garden focus on Southeast Asian, Tropical American and Central Africa species of

Cycads Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk with a crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants of a species are either male or ...

, but a collection of almost every species can also been seen here. In connection with conservation agencies the garden's cycad collections serve as an important ex situ conservation site for this endangered and ancient plant group. On-going and continuing research at the garden concerning taxonomy and horticultural use has increased the knowledge about this plant group worldwide. The Cycad genebank is managed by Anders J. Lindstrom, an expert in cycads.

Palms

*''

Rhapis ''Rhapis'' is a genus of about 10 species of small Arecaceae, palms native to southeastern Asia from southern Japan and southern China south to Sumatra. The species are commonly known as lady palms. They are List of Arecaceae genera#Tribe Trach ...

'' palms

Succulents

Blue Agave ''Agave tequilana'', commonly called blue Weber agave () or tequila agave, is an agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco state of Mexico, due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila. The high production of agavins (bran ...

*Madagascar ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...

'' *''

Pachypodium ''Pachypodium'' is a genus of succulent spine-bearing trees and shrubs, native to Madagascar and Africa. It belongs to the family Apocynaceae. Genus characteristics All ''Pachypodium'' are succulent plants that exhibit, to varying degrees, the ...

Zingiberales

*''

Heliconia ''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku (province), ...

'' *

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

* Torch Ginger *''

Alpinia ''Alpinia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. Species are native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, where they occur in tropical and subtropical climates.Bougainvillea ''Bougainvillea'' ( , ) is a genus of thorny ornamental vines, bushes, and trees belonging to the family, Nyctaginaceae. They are native to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Argentina. There are between 4 and 22 species in the genus. The i ...

'' *

Hoya Hoya may refer to: Places *Hoya, Germany, a city in Lower Saxony, Germany *County of Hoya, a former state in present Germany *Hōya, Tokyo, now incorporated within Nishi-tokyo, Tokyo, Japan * Hoya, Hpruso, a place in Hpruso Township, Kayah, Myanma ...

Bromeliads The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

Marantaceae The Marantaceae are a family, the arrowroot family, or the prayer plant family, of flowering plants consisting of 31 genera and around 530 species, defining it as one of the most species-rich families in its order. Kennedy, H. (2000). “Diversif ...

*''

Passiflora ''Passiflora'', known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae. ''Passiflora'' species are widely cultivated for their striking flowers, fla ...

'' *''

Plumeria ''Plumeria'' (), also known as frangipani, is a genus of flowering plants in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, of the family Apocynaceae. Most species are deciduous shrubs or small trees. The species are native to the Neotropical realm (in Mexico, ...

'' *New Caledonian Plants

Pricing

A two-tiered pricing system is employed with different rates for Thai nationals versus non-Thais. Currently a single admission ticket for an adult Thai national costs THB 300, while for an adult non-Thai the price is THB 600.

NICE

Nongnooch Pattaya International Convention and Exhibition (; often abbreviated as NICE) is a 5,610 m² convention center located besides the main garden which can hold up to 12,000 people inside. The venue's audio system was developed by Mahajak Development. MiRA - an event about automation, robotics, and industry within the Eastern Economic corridor - was held at NICE from 6 to 8 September 2023, and is set to also be held at NICE in both 2024 and 2025. Image:Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden.jpg, Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden Image:NongNooch01.jpg, Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden Image:NongNooch02.jpg, Decorative Landscaping at Nong Nooch Tropical Botanical Garden

References

External links

Nong Nooch Tropical Garden
{{Authority control Botanical gardens in Thailand Geography of Chonburi province Tourist attractions in Chonburi province 1980 establishments in Thailand