Our long journey to Phurua Vanodhayan, Home of Macadamia
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As I told you, our ancestors originally came from Australia. However, we became internationally well-known as an important commercial nut in Hawaii. Then in 1953, Mr. Prasit Phumchusri, the owner of Raming Tea Plantation, tried his hand on us. With the help of USOM and the Ministry of Agriculture, he brought selected varieties of macadamia nut plants and experts to his plantation in Chiangdao district as well as to the Agricultural Research Center in Fang District, both in Chiangmai. Unfortunately, Mr. Prasit died the next year and the Reseach Center grew my relatives in low land which we don't like. So this first attempt failed and the Thai people nearly miss the chance to meet their superstar!
 Luckily, in 1981, some guys at the Highland Agricultural Extension Center were clever enough to foresee our potentiality. They ordered the variety no. 741 which is suitable for highland and no. 800 for lowland. Even more fortunately, our beloved King had a great insight. He foresaw our possibility as a substitute for opium in the watershed areas in the north of Thailand. So he assigned the Dept. of Agriculture to look after this project. What makes me very proud is that the King himself planted my ancestor at the Khunwang Royal Research Station, Maewang district, Chiangmai. In addition, he assigned the Huay Hongkrai Development Study Center to experiment with macadamia at Doi Saket district, also in Chiangmai. Furthermore, he ordered the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board to allocate 200,000 Baht for 8 good varieties of macadamia nut plants from Hawaii and Australia in 1984. Experts from Australia and Hawaii University were requested to come to Thailand to experiment with a variety of terrains to find out which type was the most suitable for us. Finally, selection of proper varieties was successful in 1988-1989. |
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 It was also in 1989 that they started growing us on a large scale (more than 1,000 rais) in Thailand as well as building international standard processing plants. Doi Tung Development Project at Mae Fa Luang district, Chiangrai, was the first to carry out such a project and later introduced similar projects to Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam.
So I'm actually an international superstar since I was born in Australia, grew up in Hawaii and travelled to Indochina from Thailand.
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 Oh, I haven't told you, have I, how my parents came to Phurua Vanodhayan? OK. It started from Dr.Chaiyudh Karnasuta's interest in us. He saw our success both at Doi Tung Development Project and at Loei Horticulture Research Center. Assured by Mr. Damkerng Chaleechan of the Dept. of Agriculture who had taken care of us from the beginning that Phurua was very suitable for growing macadamia, Dr. Chaiyudh dreamt of establishing a macadamia plantation in Phurua.
So my parents migrated to Phurua Vanodhayan. We are a big community here. There are more than 30,000 of us in 1,200 rais. My parents who were the first generation here are more than 20 years' old. We like it here since Phurua is cool and over 700 meters above the mean sea level. (We prefer highland at the altitude of 350-1,300 m.) Moreover, Phurua is hilly and well-drained with mean annual rainfall from 1,300-3,000 mm. Most importantly, the temperature at night is below 18°C from October to January. Exactly what we need for our flower initiation! My master sees that we're happy to be here so she plans to further expand the growing area. If you come to visit us here, you'll find us everywhere as far as you can see.
Please, do come to visit us. I'll be very happy to take you around. In the next menu, I'll show you around with photos. But don't forget that it can't be the same as a real visit since you won't feel the cool, fresh air.
Don't forget to find time to visit us at Phurua, will you? Please? A warm welcome awaits you here. |
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