Royal Park Rajapruek

This guide to Royal Park Rajapruek in Chiang Mai traces a 2006 flower expo built to honor King Bhumibol on the sixtieth anniversary of his reign, drawing nearly four million visitors in just ninety-two days for grounds nobody expected to last. It follows Ho Kham Luang, the golden Royal Pavilion at the center of the fair, and the murals inside tracing the king's decades of rural development work. Look for the golden shower trees still blooming near the pavilion, timed to the king's own birthday.