Grand agricultural fair to honour Queen Sirikit’s legacy

The HM Queen Sirikit Park Foundation has joined hands with 26 state and private organisations to hold a special agricultural fair at the Queen Sirikit Park in Bangkok’s Chatuchak district.

The fair, which runs from Friday to August 14, is being held to mark the 92nd birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother on August 12, Jaranthada Karnasuta, chairman of the board of directors of the Queen Sirikit Park Foundation, told the press on Wednesday.

He said the fair will be a grand event held in cooperation with 26 organisations, including departments under the Agriculture Ministry and the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Office of the Basic Education Commission, the Interior Ministry, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Kasetsart University, Boon Rawd Brewery Group, Charoen Pokphand Group, True Corporation and the Ornamental Plants Association of Thailand.

Jaranthada said the event will highlight projects initiated by the Queen Mother as well as how His Majesty the King has been following up and continuing projects initiated by his parents, the Queen Mother and King Rama IX.

He said booths will be set up to display several projects initiated by the Queen Mother, including:

- The Royal Project Foundation: Will sell crops grown by hilltribes

- The Project of Demonstration Farms: Will hold demonstrations on raising laying hens, planting mushrooms, growing vegetables in vertical and limited spaces. The booth will also sell vegetables, fruits and other products from demonstration farms

- The Royal Highland Agricultural Development Project: Will demonstrate how winter plants, Arabica coffee and herbs can be grown and how bees can be raised in a coffee plantation. The project will also sell coffee, honey and herbs from the project

- The Small House in the Big Forest Project: Will demonstrate how rainbow trout and two species of sturgeon are being grown in the North. Sturgeon and caviar will also be on sale

- The Model Sea Farm Project: It will hold an exhibition explaining how the Queen Mother started the project and how artemia or brine shrimp is raised as feed for farmed fish. Also on sale will be products from the model farms, including processed fish, seaweed and salt for spa treatment

Apart from these booths, other agencies will also set up booths, including:

- Agriculture Ministry: Will demonstrate projects of 17 agencies under the ministry that have been initiated by the Queen Mother, including the project to conserve Paphiopedilum Thaianum, or the Lady Slipper orchid

- Livestock Development Department: Will hold an exhibition on how the Queen Mother contributed to the conservation of chicken breeds indigenous to the North, including the Chee Fah chicken. Visitors will also be given a taste of the Chee Fah chicken in the form of balls and burgers on August 13 from 1pm  

- Fisheries Department: Will hold an exhibition on how the Queen Mother had contributed to the conservation of Thai indigenous fish species

- Natural Resources and Environment Ministry: Will hold an exhibition showing how the Queen Mother had contributed to the conservation of the environment. It will also showcase the project to plant 72 million trees in her honour and hand out 3,000 saplings for free

- Bangkok Metropolitan Administration: It has improved the landscape of the Queen Sirikit Park for the event by planting 150,000 flowers. It will also demonstrate how it grows cultures in labs to conserve various plant species

- Kasetsat University: Will display the orchids that the Queen Mother has graciously named, and will also hold its annual Kaset Fair at the event.