Among other things, Kampon owns and operates Nong Nooch (pronounced nuke) Tropical Gardens. For the past few years, Kampon had been creating reverberations throughout the palm world due to his undertakings at Nong Nooch. Rumors kept circulating that he was developing the most outstanding tropical gardens in the history of the planet. Furthermore, his emphasis was on palms. Imagine how this piqued the interest of palm society members throughout the world. Never having seen Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens, never having met Kampon, and not having been in this part of the world since 1973, I had to go. As a bonus, the bhat (Thai dollar) had recently been devalued by nearly ½, so traveling in Thailand was an exceptional value.

My traveling companion was Pauleen Sullivan. Pauleen is known in the palm world as the "Palm Queen." Managing the I.P.S. bookstore since its inception nearly thirty years ago, she is the palm world's most beloved individual. Pauleen has been confined to a wheelchair for most of her adult life. She contracted polio while pregnant with her youngest son Terry, who is now 48. Being in a wheelchair has never slowed Pauleen down much. But she does need assistance moving between her wheelchair and whatever mode of transportation is being used. I provide the assistance. It's a wonderful opportunity to be in the company of one of the palm world's kindest and most knowledgeable palm aficionados.

We flew Thai Airlines from LAX to Bangkok with a one hour layover in Osaka, Japan. At Osaka International, I was thrilled to squeeze in a Miami Vice rerun, "dubbed over in Japanese." Eighteen hours after leaving Los Angeles our plane landed in Bangkok. The following few days, palm society members indulged in various local tours. In Bangkok, temples are the order of the day. You can't imagine all of the beautiful temples that exist in Bangkok. They seem to be everywhere. By the close of the first day I was simply "all templed out." I much preferred the second leading Bangkok tourist attraction which is a boat ride on the "klongs." A klong is aThai canal. During the reign of previous emperors, an elaborate system of transportation klongs was developed in and around Bangkok. The boats that tour the canals are narrow, teak-wood, delivery canoes of yesteryear called "long boats." So long, they can't turn around in the klongs. They are perhaps 4 feet wide and 50 feet in length. Originally, rowed, they are now powered by car engines. The engine balances from the rear of the long boat with an extension propeller that protrudes about 16 feet out into the water. The boat is steered by moving the entire engine and extension propeller as one giant rudder. It was a major tourist breakthrough when this retrofit occurred making klong touring possible.

Touring the klongs provides an incredible opportunity to witness contemporary Thai living first hand. I was fortunate to photograph an amalgamation of intriguing, third world settings. Rustic old wood shacks with tin roofs, perched precariously on stilts over the klongs. Some dilapidated and slowly collapsing into the water. Clothes hanging from windows and clotheslines. Plants on window and bench ledges. Malnourished dogs. People fishing off porches. Children diving and swimming in the water and dinghys for water transport suspended from beneath many structures. It was a relaxed way of life that I must admit I have to envy. It even had an uncanny resemblance to the canals of my hometown, Venice California. Except the Venice canals aren't as charming. Nor do they have clothes hanging from the windows. The canals are owned by the Thai government so the residents living over them are squatters. Someday, the squatters and their shacks will be removed to pave way for modern development along the canals' edges. I was fortunate to have taken approximately 40 photographs along the klongs and the Chao Phya River. They are some of the most remarkable third world settings that I have ever captured on film.

The following day, our caravan of six Volvo buses departed for Pattaya. Pattaya is about 80 kilometers southwest of Bangkok situated right on the coast. It's an up and coming tourist area with comfortable hotels and a lovely beach. It was a perfect location for our group because Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens are only about 30 kilometers away. Upon arriving in Pattaya, the members were allowed a short time to clean up and change. Then, we were driven in our Volvo bus caravan to Nong Nooch for dinner. Inexplicably, the buses were provided with a police escort everywhere we went. Probably because Kampon is a close personal friend of the King of Thailand. Soon the buses entered Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. This was the moment of reckoning as the group received a complete, motorcade tour of the gardens. It was quickly determined that Nong Nooch is unquestionably, the most incredible assortment of horticultural gardens that anyone on the tour had ever seen. 450 acres of palms, tropical plants, manicured bushes, lakes, boulders, shadehouses, orchid lathhouses, gift shops, a pavilion, animal facilities, on-site housing to accomodate its 800 plus employees and everything else necessary to run what has become the world's premier tropical gardens. The Nong Nooch rumors were true.

The following two days were spent touring and closely examining Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. Imagine the spectacle. Over 200 of the world's preeminent palm enthusiasts, nearly half of whom were brandishing cameras, documenting the most incredible horticultural accomplishment in history. Namely, Kampon Tansacha's rapid transition of the Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens. The crescendo for this particular group was observing the many palm species. The Nong Nooch palm garden contains what will easily become the world's premier collection of palms in the future. With only 13 years of collecting and growing, Kampon has acquired over 1,000 species. His motto is 2000 by 2000. 2000 palms by the year 2000! Nong Nooch has two enormous shade houses where hundreds of young palms are growing prior to their entry into full sun. Palms are, but one of the many plant groups on display at Nong Nooch. Also within the gardens are orchids, bromiliads, tilandsias, epiphytes, philodendrons succulents and cactus, along with several other plant families. Among other things, Nong Nooch is also becoming the world's most diverse and divergent tropical gardens. All container plants are in clay pots. The clay pots are made on site in the pottery factory to the fascination of spectators. And to the delight of palm enthusiasts, tens of thousands of palms are being field grown at the gardens for future distribution. Thailand will someday be replete with beautiful, rare, exotic species of palms throughout the entire country. All thanks to the tireless efforts of Kampon Tansacha.

As palm enthusiasts toured the gardens in 90 degree plus heat, they were followed by the Nong Nooch staff, armed with ice cream and cold soft drinks. Amazingly, Kampon himself, also attended to the needs of the palm society members throughout the entire Biennial. Imagine, the Donald Trump of Thailand, handing out ice cream and refreshments to weary and exhausted palm enthusiasts during two days of "palmania." The final afternoon at Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens included a show of performing elephants. As we entered the pavilion, I noticed at least 50 tour buses lined up in the parking lots. It was apparent that Nong Nooch was a major tourist attraction as hundreds of Japanese, European and American tourists filed by. Watching the elephants made me realize the remarkable ability, agility and intelligence of these huge creatures.
They would balance on beams, lift willing spectators up into the air for photographs, place their enormous feet on the bodies of volunteers without causing injury, plus a variety of other complicated tricks. It was also highly enjoyable to watch the thrill of spectators as they fed bananas to the greedy, aggressive, baby elephants. The magnitude of the level of spectator enjoyment at this event was indescribable. As darkness set, all was followed by the traditional, I.P.S. Biennial, farewell banquet. After the farewell banquet, tiny, coconut-sized rafts, containing make-a-wish candles, were set afloat by palm society members on the 50 acre lake. I suspect that the wish of many was to someday return. The finale was an incredible fireworks display, reminiscent of Danny DeVito's yearly, fourth of July, Malibu galas.

For me, visiting Thailand and attending the I.P.S. Biennial was a most remarkable experience,, punctuated by visiting Nong Nooch Tropical Gardens and meeting Kampon Tansacha; the man who is realizing the most outstanding horticultural dream in history.  

Don Tollefson is an attorney, dually domiciled in Malibu and Venice, California. He is the Los Angeles Area Chairperson for the Southern California Palm Society.  The next Biennial will be held in New Caledonia in the year 2000.  Anyone interested in joining the International Palm Society may do so online at http://www.palms.org.