T26 - Tabebuia aurea @ Thanon Phra Athit

So easy kids can do it, and boy, do they love to plant trees!

Our second tree on Thanon Phra Athit, this time a smallish ornemental tree that will soon give us beautiful yellow flowers! At least if it survives, and as hot season draws near, please water it if you happen to stroll around Bangkok's most relaxed area! ;)

No time wasted in idle chat

Sunday family fun!

Ok, I helped them for the digging...

Easy as 1,2,3!

T21 - Flowers for Mothers' Day @ Sukhumvit

Today I planted a small seedling of Barringtonia asiatica (จิกเล หรือ จิกทะเล) under Ploenchit BTS station on Sukhumvit.

Is there a better thing to do to celebrate Mothers' Day on the Queen's Birthday?

Most passers-by stopped to take pictures, chit-chat and show support, it's been another great experience! <3

#mothersday2015 #barringtonia #sukhumvittree #plantatreebangkok

T15 the survivor - 18 months and growing strong !

Planted in October 2013 with Tarn, T15 grows steadily and is now taller than me ! :D

It's now the tree that got the tallest among the ones I've planted in Bangkok streets, and one of the few survivors. Now it got that far, I'm confident it has a chance to be just as big as the other trees in the street ! 

A friend attracted my attention to the funny names of this tree : bastard poon tree, fetid sterculia, poon tree, skunk tree ! The very complete Sterculia foetida page from Dr. Giuseppe MAZZA's Nature encyclopedia http://www.photomazza.com/?-Encyclopedia-&lang=en will tell you all you want to know, but I can't resist copying an extract here :

The name of the genus comes from the Latin “stercus” = dung, manure, with reference to the unpleasant odour of the flowers and the leaves of some species; the name of the species, is the Latin adjective “foetidus, a, um” = fetid, stinking, with reference to the unpleasant smell of the flowers.

Exactly my kind of guerrilla street tree ! :D

Taller than my raised arm

#sterculiafoetida #thanonkhao #plantatreebangkok #plantatreebangkok #filterpollution #guerrillatreeplanting

T20 Plant a tree to make a statement

It had been a long time I'd wanted to plant a tree there.

Since they are building the BTS nearby, lots of property development is happening in my area. So be it. But this particular operation here is quite nasty for a few reasons :

- the land owners decided to stop allowing a market that had long been there

- they evicted the sellers within 2 months, without relocation

- the sellers finally moved on the edge of the land, on land that was not stabilized, where they get flooded

- there is no sanitation whatsoever there, mosquitoes swarm the place

- the sellers can only wait until the final eviction

We don't need yet another condo in that overcrowded area : we need the market ! The sellers are being evicted like lousy dogs. The landowners purposely left the rubble from the market and other ruins they had failed to previously complete for *over a year*, to be sure the place is not re-invested. So that place actually slowly filled with trash for most of that time.

It's the municipality who finally provided a tent to 'shelter' whatever is left of the market : the landowners didn't.

So rather plant a tree there than letting anger build up inside me. I chose to plant the most respected tree in Thailand, because it harbours spirits, and is (wrongfully) believed the be the tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment. 

There is a superstition associated with that beautiful tree, so you should always respect it. There are usually offering nearby the Ficus religiosa we find here and there in town.

 

Anne-Laure was just too happy to go for some guerrilla gardening action ! 

There is plenty more space, we can plant a full fledged veggie garden or even an urban farm ! 

Planting tree smile ! :D

Ride bikes & plant trees @ Khao San Road

Thanks to my friends Alby and Mandy, we have organized another meetup dedicated to planting trees in Bangkok, Guerrilla style, while riding bicycles ! The greatest way to cure your hangover !


You can find more pictures and infos on this event here :
- FB group page
- Meetup event 
These pages will allow you to get in touch with us for the next events, don't forget to register to receive email alerts. Join the fun, share the love ! ^^


It was really fun, 10 adults + my son had the greatest time together fruiting up Bangkok ! We started late because of the rain, but water pouring down on us did not hinder our determination to green things up !

About 20 trees of all kinds were planted on that morning, around Khao San Road, including facing the FAO on Phra Athit Road. We've been photographed, helped and encouraged by several people and shop owners on our path. Several trees have found care givers ! :D


There is another meetup coming up soon, this time we'll meet at Ekamai. Bring your kids !

 Still wet, planting the first tree @ FAO, Phra Athit Road

 Papayas grow well on  the streets !

 An expert checking if things are being done properly

 Lots of people = lots of fun !

 Make way for young seedlings !

 We inspired some people, and almost got free noodles...

This lady left her street cart to help us :)

Ride bikes & plant trees @ Lumpini Park

Thanks to my friends Alby and Mandy, we have organized the first meetup dedicated to planting trees in Bangkok, Guerrilla style, while riding bicycles ! The greatest way to participate to car-free day !


You can find more pictures and infos on this event here :
- FB group page
- Meetup event
These pages will allow you to get in touch with us for the next events, don't forget to register to receive email alerts. Join the fun, share the love ! ^^


About 15 trees were planted on that morning, around Lumpini park, including facing Netherlands Embassy and Alliance francaise. We also planted a Mango tree on Sukhumvit Road, the first of its kind ! 

It was really fun, 6 adults + my two sons had the greatest time together fruiting up Bangkok !

Getting ready to rock !

Mandy and Ek at work

 United we stand !

 

 Extending security guards veggie garden with fruit trees ! ^^

 Little forest opposite to Netherlands embassy

 The first Mango tree I know of on Sukhumvit road !

(just below BTS Ploen Chit)

T19 - Plant flower trees for the military !

Yesterday, I planted a nice flower tree next to the military command gates. We all know that soldiers need flowers more than anyone, even the more so when they take over the Power and are super-busy cleaning corruption and chasing the corrupted. That is no mean feat in Thailand !

The largest tree I've planted so far

Tree : T019

Specie : Thevetia peruviana - รำเพย

Location : Thanon Sri Ayudthaya

Notes : Planting dedicated in honor to General Prayuth for the big clean-up on corruption ; planted opposite to military base gates

I was lucky to find a rather tall Thevetia peruviana (Yellow oleander) that was longing to be replanted where it could grow tall and be seen by all. Its beautiful yellow flowers are a perfect color match with the Thai Monarchy, that the army has sworn to protect (the constitution is currently up-held, except the article related to the Monarchy).

Yellow flowers for the Monarchy

I had noticed a very nicely located spot, just opposite from the main gate of the base where the corrupted and allegedly corrupted are kept for some time for investigation, and then released. The tree can thus be seen by anyone being driven away in their big mercedes, over their drivers shoulders. I wish flowers will help them lighten up their minds from their daily preoccupations  such as pondering on how to escape from a well-deserved punishment once again.

Perfect location - before planting

Can be seen by all who drive through the gate

 The precedent tree had died a long time ago, so the stump was rotten and i could pull it by hand effortlessly, just like rooting out bad practices, and then plant a lively healthy tree to grow over that dirty past.

Have the old rotten stumps make way to healthy growing beauty

กองบัญชาการกองพลที่ 1 รักษาพระองค์

Hashtags :

#soldiersneedflowers #flowersforsoldiers #flowersfightcorruption #guerrillatreeplanting #guerrillaformilitary #yellowflowersrule

T016 - Planting a tree next to a temple in a Bangkok street

Tree : T016
Specie : Sterculia foetida - สำโรง
Street : Thanon Phra Sumen 
Notes : Talked 10 minutes with a retired police officer on the virtues of trees and nature in general

After last post, Albert contacted me to do some guerilla tree planting together. He is quite an incredible guy : he came all the way here on his bicycle from  . . . Berlin ! It was a great honnor and pleasure to roam the streets around Khao San Road area with our bikes (mine has an engine) to find some right spots.

I had 2 Sterculia foetida left, T16 and T17

To my great great great shame, I post this only now, more than 6 months later...

Albert at work in Bangkok

 Digging compacted soil with a toy (I won't call that tiny spade a tool) is not easy. One often finds rocks, broken bricks, glass shards, etc... I totally forgot to warn Albert (I use gloves), and when digging, he almost instantly got a huge blister that burst inside his hand.

Attention to detail

There was some sort of a fair in the temple nearby (Wat Bavorn Niwet), most likely a funeral of someone important if I believe the colors of the cloth hanging on the wall, many neatly dressed people went in and out the temple. We have been quite popular, with students taking our pictures, an old lady clapping her hands at us, touts coming for a word or two, and a retired police officer chatting about how important it is to keep and plant more trees...

Watering after planting

Albert went back a few times to care for the tree, put more rocks around it to protect it, water it... Last time I passed in the street the tree was healthy and growing ! I'll publish pictures one day...

T015 - Planting 'Sterculia foetida' in Bangkok street

Tree : T015

Specie : Sterculia foetida - สำโรง

Street : Thanon Khao - ถนนขาว

Notes : as usual : tree doomed to terrible fate

On the way to work this morning, with a friend, we stopped to plant this nice little sapling :

Good care makes beautiful trees

Sterculia foetida

 Traffic was dense, as usual at this spot. One guy was stuck next to us, opened this window and asked us what we were doing, smiling. After we told him, he smiled wider, cheered us, and went away. A pick-up driver opened his window and shouted 'Thank you !' as traffic was carrying him to his duties.

Close-up on the recent local massacre (Alstonia scholaris - พญาสัตบรรณ)

Planting a tree here is, on the sidewalks of Bangkok, is not really a favor we're doing the tree. The above picture illustrates the fate they all have to endure periodically. To no avail, if you ask me. We can also see a municipality worker using a watering can (yes, a watering can) to spread herbicide all over the place (pavement and wall still wet on the right). We asked him to spare our sapling, to which he answered something like : "it's safe, I already done that spot".

We can still find on google street a reminder of what the street used to look like until about one month ago. Let me display these pictures, including a picture showing our unfortunate friend above, while still in all its glory.

Same street before they cut the trees
 Again, with T015 planting spot.

See you soon for some other street guerilla tree planting.