Water Hyacinth: the Royal alien species

If you’re traveling by boat in Bangkok, you can see numerous water hyacinths spreading in canals and rivers. Water hyacinth is a threatening species to Thailand’s ecosystem for hundred years. Its magnificent reproductive power can covered its habitat within a few months, letting other hydro species unable to reproduction and extinct. Its thick brush cause oxygens are hard to dissolve in water and the corpses are sunken in the habitat, resulting in polluted water. However, this disastrous plant is not the native species in Thailand. It is the alien species introduced to our country by the Royal family. 

Water hyacinth or Eichhornia crassipes (its species name means “thick foots”, referring to its succulent stems & roots) is originally native to South American region. It was firstly introduced to South East Asia in late 19th century by the Hollanders who rule over Java (now is Indonesia). In Thailand, water hyacinth was firstly imported in around year 1896 by the order of Queen Saovabha Phongsri of King Rama V when they were going to Java. Queen Saovabha Phongsri happened to like the beautifulness of water hyacinth’s inflorescent that resemble to the orchid. Water hyacinths were then firstly planted in Thailand at Phayathai palace and they were successively cultivated. After that, Queen Saovabha Phongsri had an order to planting water hyacinth outside the palace, starting from Samsen canal behind the Phayathai palace, in order to “ to let commoners have a chance to see its beauty”, and the story begun.

Water hyacinth inflorescent (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eichhornia_crassipes)

Not so long after the spreading of water hyacinth outside the palace, this plant became the nuisance to local people especially the ones who travel via canal or river. King Rama V had a speech in year 1908, twelve years after the first arrival of water hyacinth in Thailand, mentioned that the water hyacinth was “very dangerous”. In 1910, water hyacinth was introduced in the first agricultural festival in Thailand as “a dangerous & useless plant that everyone should eliminate”. Although in the era of king Rama VI had established the law of eliminating water hyacinth, it wasn’t successful until today. 

Nowadays, water hyacinth once known as the beautiful gift from the queen, are well-known as the disastrous alien species.

The sorrow in Thai literatures: Jak

When I was young, I was raised at Samut Prakan province, my mother’s side hometown. My mother’s house was built in the degenerated mangrove forest area, which still remains some kind of plant that can see in mangrove forest like mangrove itself or mangrove apple (Sonneratia caseolaris). Nowadays, most of them are gone during the uprising of town and factory except nipa palm or in Thai Jak.

Jak or Nypa fruticans is the one and only palm species that can adapted to mangrove biome. It can be seen in mangrove forest, through south-eastern Asia to Australia and the southern part of Japan. In Thailand, this plant is used to made a sweet called “kanom Jak”, which is made from the sticky rice flour, ripe coconut flesh and coconut sugar. The ingredients are mixed and warped with Jak leaves before grilled until they’re cooked. The immature fruits, fresh or macerated in syrup, are also consumed as a snack.

Unripe fruits of Nipa palm, Samut prakan province.

Because the word “Jak” also means “depart” or “farewell” in Thai, this “Jak” tree is famous to use by the writers or poets in Thai literatures and folklores as the symbol to express the emotion of the characters when they are forced to depart with the one they loved. The masterpiece one is Enau,. Not only Jak tree was used to express the sadness of the character, but also Jak-prak, which is Thai name of ruddy shelduck or tadorna ferruginea.

Other famous plants used in the literatures to describe the sadness of the characters are Rakum and Sala. Both of them are also the member of Arecaceae family like Nipa palm and their name have synonym with the sadness-meaning words in Thai.

Sala or Salak in Malaysia and Indonesia, commonly known as “snake fruit”, has the scientific name of Salacca zalacca, which could be derived from the word Salak. Unlike Nipa palm, Salak has numerous long spikes on thepetioles. Salak is one of the economic plants in Indonesia due to its delicious fruits. The most famous cultivars are Salak pondoh from Yogyakarta province and salak Bali from Bali.

Rakum or Salacca wallichiana is closely resembled to Salak. The difference is easily observed from their fruits. Normally, Salak fruit is round-shape and has only one pulp while Rakum fruits is longer and might be divided to 2-3 pulps. However, because these two species is very close and can cross-breeding, the divided-pulp Salak can be found in the market in Thailand. Moreover, there is the hybrid of Salak and Rakum which the spike is absent. Thai farmers called it “Sakum”.



Since both Sala and Rakum have synonym to the sadness-meaning words (Sala in Thai means “sacrifice”, Rakum means “sorrow”) and they are closely resembled. Most literature and poem use both of them as the symbol to express the character’s grief.

Indian gooseberry: an Indian Elixir of Life

Around this time in Thailand is usually winter season, but not for this year. The rain is still pouring down, together with a slightly chill in the morning and extremely hot in the evening. As a pharmacist, I often face people coming to drug store due to the flu. One of the magnificent drugs used in flu and cough (in my private opinion) is the extract of Indian gooseberry, which used in dry cough.

Indian gooseberry or Phyllanthus emblica is called in India as amla or amalaka (the word “emblica” is derived from the word “amla”). This plant is worshiped as a panacea and famously used in Ayurveda medicine. In Hindu belief, Indian gooseberry is the sacred tree that the great god Vishnu resides in. Another legend informed that Indian gooseberry was born from the drops of Amrit, the Elixir of Life in Hindu belief. From its origin, no wonder why this plant was honored as the remedy for every kind of diseases and to extend the life.

In Buddhism, Indian gooseberry is one of the remedy that Sangha can eat in the night time (normally, they cannot eating after noon and dinner is prohibited). Legend said that this plant is the last gift that King Ashoka given to Sangha. Indian gooseberry also used as the material in many Buddhism architect, like the Alma-shape stupa in India or alma-shaping edge in Myanmar.

Alma shaping-edge stupa at Sein Nyet Nyima pagoda, Bagan, Myanmar

Indian gooseberry also plays a role in Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha’s history. Once upon a time, Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha has to cure the illness of one brutal king. The remedy including ghee, which is the king’s least favorite. With fury, the king summon royal page to capture Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha that already leaving from his city. When the page found him, Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha gave the Indian gooseberry to the page as the “greeting gift” and he ate it. The page then suddenly diarrhea from the effect of Indian gooseberry and unable to caught Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, who returned to his hometown save and sound.

There is an Indian gooseberry puja ritual in the 11th of second lunar month. In that day, the participants are watering the Indian gooseberry tree and pray for their wealth and health. This day is marked as the beginning of Holi festival, which takes place four days after that. Indian gooseberry also play a role in Holi festival as the ingredient to make the yellow-colored powder used in the festival.

What type of wood is a material of "red Chan monk's bowl" in the Buddha history?

In “Mango in the Buddha history”, I mentioned about Yamaka Parihariya, which occurred after the Buddha forbid all sangha to perform the supernatural power. The origin of this forbidden is caused by the sangha name Pindola Bhāradvāja shows the miracle to receive the monk’s bowl made from “red Chan wood”. After I finish that work, I wonder that what kind of wood that made this monk’s bowl because all Chan wood in Thailand (Mansonia gagei) is not red! In fact, its color is yellow to light brown.

So, what exactly is the wood made the mentioned monk’s bowl?

There are some plants in Indian continent that also called “Chan” in Thailand although they aren’t Mansonia gagei. One of them is the sandalwood or Santalum album, an endangered species originated from South India continent. This plant is the main source of sandalwood oil production, of course it contains strong fragrant. However, like Mansonia gagei, its wood is not red but white to light brown like its name (A’bum means “white”). This plant could not be the “red Chan wood” in the Buddha history.

Another plant that looks resemble to the sandalwood is red sandalwood or Pterocarpus santalinus (santalinus means “like the sandalwood”). Unlike the “true” sandalwood, this plant has no fragrant. Red sandalwood is close to Burma Padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus), which is the national flower of Myanmar. Because the red sandalwood has reddish heartwood, this plant might be the “red Chan wood” mentioned in the Buddha history and might be the material for mentioned monk’s bowl.

Is there any Chan plant in Thailand that has red heartwood? The answer is “Yes!” Some Dracaena species in Thailand can produce red heartwood when attacked by the fungi. This infected wood is used in traditional medicine to lower all kind of fever. This infected might be the candidate of the “red Chan wood” in the Buddha history.

Moreover, the sap released from Dracaena plants is also red. This sap is the material to produce the famous folk medicine known as “Dragon’s blood”, which is used as an ultimate remedy mainly treated in respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases.

Sweet osmanthus, the secret of beauty from the moon

Because tomorrow (27 Sep 2015) is Moon Festival Day, I’d like to talk about the plants that play a major role in this festival

One of the important plants in Moon Festival (or Mid-Autumn Festival) is sweet osmanthus of Osmanthus fragrans. Its scientific name is clearly described that its flower (Anthos) is fragrant (Osma). Sweet osmanthus has Chinese name as “Guihua”, which means fragrant flower. Since this plant is a member of Oleaceae family - the olive family, it also known as tea olive or fragrant olive. 

Sweet osmanthus is a native plant in East Asia continent, can be found from Himalaya through China, Taiwan and Japan. In Thailand, it can be naturally found only in Chiang Mai province.

Sweet osmanthus was used for beauty since the ancient era. They were mixed in food, drink and cosmetics. It also was traditionally use as herbal tea to treat irregular menstruation. Recent study showed that the flower contains antioxidant and free-radical scavenging activities. It is honored in Taiwan as the sacred flower used in wedding ceremony.

In Chinese myth, sweet osmanthus was originally grown on the moon and it was the immortal tree. From this belief and the fact that sweet osmanthus is blooming in the mid-autumn; the same time of the Moon Festival, many Chinese people honored sweet osmanthus as the plant of the Moon Festival. During Moon Festival, the spirit mixed with sweet osmanthีs flower called cassia wine or Kuei Hua Chen Chiew is used as the symbol of the reunion. People often drink this spirit while watching the beautiful full moon.

Cassia wine or Kuei Hua Chen Chiew
Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chinesischer_Duftwein_Flasche.jpg

Jujube and the truth behind the liberation of Siam

The entrance of the alley leading to my house used to be the deserted land, full of wild plants. Beside the entrance was a giant jujube tree, aged for decades. It was giving a shade for many people passing by or waiting for the bus, and was the habitat for many birds. Nowadays, that waste land is renovated to be some construction site. Of course, all wide plants are eliminated include that jujube tree. Now the birds have no home and the locals have to endure the sunlight while they’re waiting for the bus. The “development”, which destroys old ones to create new ones, is absolutely no “development” but “degeneration”.

It’s a big waste thing; including the historical fact that jujube is related to the liberation of old Thailand known as Siam. Now the Siam descendants easily destroy the symbol of liberation, which their ancestor created with their flesh and blood

Jujube or Ziziphus jujuba, also known as Chinese date due to the way Chinese people preserve it.

The ripe fruits are dried and seed detachment, giving the dark-reddish and wrinkle dried fruit the look resemble the dates. In Thailand, it is called “Put-shar”, which was derived from Sanskrit word “Patara”. This fruit is famous for using as blood tonic and diuresis.

Jujube took part in the liberation of Siam in the era of King Naresuan the Great of Ayutthaya Kingdom. In the book called “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat”, which is an annals told by one of Thai hostage in Bago, the former capital of Myanmar, informed that during the Elephant War, King Naresuan’s elephant is weaker than the elephant of Bago’s first prince (or Minyekyawswa) so he fled until he reached jujube tree. Using the tree to support his body, King Naresuan’s elephant fight back Bago’s elephant. King Naresuan, using this chance, killed the Bago’s first prince on his elephant’s neck and ending the Elephant War. This winning is the beginning of the liberation of Siam from the ruling by Bago.

The ElapHant War mural, Wat Suvandaram, Ayutthaya province
credit: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/WatSuvandaramMural.jpg

From this sentence, jujube was announced to be the important tree in Ayutthaya province. Nowadays, around 800 of jujube tree, cultivated since a hundred years ago, are preserved in the place called Jujube Historical Garden in Ayutthaya province.

However, do you mind, especially all patriotism, if I tell you that those mentioned statement is merely a folktale, because this book is partially fiction! Not the pure “historical fact”.

The truth is the book called “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat” is a copy version of the book in the Royal library called “The annals translated from Mon language” by a man name K.S.R. Kularb. Because copying the book of Royal library is forbidden and illegal in that time. Mr. K.S.R Kularb, fearing the law punishment, modified the information from the original book so he can claim that his copy wasn’t from the Royal book. The problem is, the modified information is massively incorrect from the truth. Even King Rama V had a speech about this book as “ridiculously confusion”. In the end, the government had to publish another copy of “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat” and named it “the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat (Government version)” to correct the false information from K.S.R. Kularb’s version.

The detail in the Elephant War between King Naresuan the Great and Bago’s first prince in other annals is different from K.S.R. Kularb’s version of the statement of Kun Luang Ha Wat. For example, in the book named “the statement of the old capital’s people”, which published by the Government, informed that King Naresuan’s elephant fled into forest full of jujube trees and support his body with termite hill located in that forest. After fighting back the elephant of Bago’s first prince. King Naresuan found a chance and killed the first prince on his elephant’s neck, ending the Elephant War. This winning is the beginning of the liberation of Siam from the ruling by Bago.

Now we know the truth behind the liberation of Siam. So the jujube is the key item in the liberation or just the side dish, we let you to decide what you want to believe.

Mango in the Buddha history

I was earlier mention about the story of mango in Hindu religion. This time I’d like to talk about the story of mango in Buddhism, to prove that mango is indeed a part of Indian people’s life.

Mango is appearing as a part in many stories in Buddha history, but I’d like to show you just two major stories. The first one is about the Amphawan temple (the name means “mango garden”). Story was told that this temple was formed by Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha, the Ayurveda master and the personal doctor of the Buddha, also honored as the grandmaster of the Thai traditional medicine. After becoming Buddhism, Doctor Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha want to pay the respect to Buddha more often but the Buddha’s current place, Weruwan temple (the name means “bamboo garden”, also the first Buddhism temple in the history) was too far from his place to come by. So he built the temple in his mango garden, which was given to him by King Bimbisara, and give to Buddha and sangha. This place is also the place he healed Buddha‘s bruise occurred from the rock chip hitting his foot. In this present, the ruin of Amphawan temple is one of the places the Buddhisms around the world come to pay the respect to the Buddha.

Another mango-related Buddha story is about the Yamaka Patihariya, or the “twin miracle”. This story takes place after the Buddha forbidding all sangha to perform the supernatural power or Patihariya. In that time, the heretics gladly announced that they will challenge the miracle with the Buddha (because they thought that the Buddha cannot perform any miracle after he forbids all sangha to do). The Buddha accepted the challenge and said that he will perform the miracle at the mango tree on the full moon day of the eighth month or Asalha.

After hearing, the heretics uprooted all mango trees, so the Buddha hasn’t a place to perform the miracle. However, on the promising day, the Buddha went to king’s garden and met a man name Ganda, the king’s gardener. In that day, Ganda give the ripe mango fruit to Buddha instead of the king and the Buddha accepted. After finishing the fruit, the Buddha ordered Ganda to plant the mango seed in the king’s garden and he poured the hand-washing water into it. Miraculously, the seed was instantly grown to the mature tree full of ripe fruits. Then the Buddha performed the miracle called Yamaka Patihariya or the twin miracle. It was named from its appearance of opposite character in pair, for example, the Buddha produced the steam form his upper body part while produced the flame from his lower body part at the same time. After the miracle was finally done, the Buddha was going to heaven to perform Dharma to his mother, now born as the deva.

Buddha image in the posture of receiving the mango fruit,
 Krathum Suea Pla temple, On-nut, Bangkok

The story of Yamaka Patihariya was told and descended to this present, and now be shown in the religious art. One of the Buddha image called the posture of receiving the mango fruit, which has the image of Buddha sitting cross-legged with the left hand on the lap and the right hand is holding the mango fruit, has the inspiration from this story. This posture is one of the sixty-six official Buddha images in Thailand.

Mango, the sacred tree of love in Hindu

I mentioned about Kalasha puja ritual in “coconut story part IV” that I wrote earlier (Link here). As you can see, the mango leaves are used as a part of the ingredient in this ritual so this time I’d like to talk about the mango in Hindu culture.

Mango or Mangifera indica (Its scientific name imply the origin of this plant that come from India) has many local Indian names like Aam, Aamra or Amb. These words also mean “provision”, suggest that this plant play a major role as a primary food in India.

There is a record of mango appearing in Thailand since a long time ago. However, the word “Ma-muang" which is called mango in Thailand is believed that it’s not originally Thai language. This word might derive from Tamil words "Maagga" or "Maaggai", which is the name given to mango. The use of Maagga word to call mango also found in Indonesia, supporting the Maagga-derived -to-Mamunag theory.

In Hindu belief, mango is a plant represents to the KamaDeva, the god of love and desire. This Deva has a male figure with green-colored skin, has peacock as the vehicle. His personal arms is the bow which made from the sugar cane and bees as string. The arrows are made from the five types of flower: lotus, water lily, Ashoka (Saraca indica), Scented star jasmine (Jasminum adenophyllum), and mango. Since the former two flowers are also the symbol of the purity, this flowering arrow is implied that love is the purest feeling.

Mango flowers (Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mango)

In India, mango is worshiped as the plant of love and marriage. In wedding ceremony, the holy water was sprinkled to the bride and the groom with the use of mango flower and leaves. The mango leaves are also used to make a decoration in wedding places.

Mango is also used in Hindu-related ceremonies and rituals in Thailand. One of the most important ritual is the Royal Coronation. During the coronation, mango leaves is used as “ward-off leaves”, to repel any dangerous occurring to the king. The “ward-off leaves” is made from three kinds of plants; one is the twenty-five mango leaves, to repel twenty-five types of natural-occurring hazard; another one is made from thirty-two leaves of Caricature plant (Graptophyllum pictum), to repel thirty-two types of punishment; the last one is made from ninety-six leaves of Indian prune (Flacourtia rukam), to repel the ninety-six types of illness. After the use, the “ward-off leaves” will dipped in honey and crude oil before burnt in the oven using jujube wood as the firewood.

The rose apple from Kalapa city

In "the coconut story part II" (Link here), I mentioned about Kalapa city (currently Jakarta) that was famous from high-quality rose apple. So I would like to mention about this Kalapa rose apple and the rose apple species in Thailand.

The rose apple (called in Thai as “Chom-poo”) is a plant in genus Syzygium, which is a member of Myrtaceae family. There is a hypothesis that these Syzygium plants were firstly discovered in India continent before spreading to South-Easther Asia. The name Chom-poo in Thai is believed that was derived from the Java word “Jambu air” meaning rose apple. However, some say that this Java word also derived from the Indian words, due to the origin of the rose apple. In Marathi, rose apple is called “Jamb” and in Tamil is called “Champai”, both of them are sound resemble to Jambu word in Java.

At this present in Thailand, there are nine official “Chom-poo” species as follow:

Syzygium aksornae (in Thai “Chom-poo-ak-sorn”)

Syzygium anacardiifolium (in Thai “Chom-poo-krom”)

Syzygium aqueum or water rose apple

Syzygium formosum (in Thai “Chom-poo-nok)

Syzygium jambos or the rose apple

Syzygium malaccense or Malay apple

Syzygium pseudoformosum (in Thai “Chom-poo-nok-pak-tai”)

Syzygium samarangense or wax apple, Java apple

Syzygium siamense (in Thai “Chom-poo-nam”)

Noted that the rose apple is called in Hindi as “Gulab Jamun”, which is also the name of the Indian sweet. From the rounded-shape, color and flower-like fragrance of the sweet which is resemble to the fruit of rose apple, This sweet might originally made to mimic the rose apple fruit.

Flower of Malay apple, Bangna, Bangkok

In botanical fact, the current commercial rose apple species in Thailand are mainly developed from the Syzygium aqueum. For the Wasterner, the representations of “Chom-poo” species are mainly developed from the Syzygium samarangense species.

Since Syzygium samarangense has the habitat in Java (now Indonesia), the Kalapa rose apple is indeed this species.

At last, I’d like to talk more about one of my favorite fruit, Chpm-poo-phet.

Chomm-poo-phet is believed that is the mixed breed between Malay apple and Java apple. The first cultivated of this breeding is in the Era of King Rama IV. There is a record that King Rama IV gave the grafted branch of Chom-poo that growth in his place to a monk and he came to cultivated it at Phetchaburi province. Since the first cultivated place is at Phetchaburi province, this plant was given name Chom-poo-phet. Nowadays, Chom-poo-phet is one of the important economic plant in this province.

Coconut story part IV - coconut in the rituals and ceremonies

Like I mentioned earlier that coconut is worshiped in India, so this plant is used in many rituals and ceremonies. In some northern continent of India, coconut is praised as Sriphala – the fruit of Sri the goddess of wealth. This believing can be found in the Indonesia, there is tradition custom in some region that the coconut water must be pouring into the land before farming or ploughing. By doing this, they believe that the rain will downpour enough for the plant growth.

Coconut is representing to the god Shiva, due to its three “eyes” on their skull that resemble to the three eyes of Shiva. In many Hindu rituals, includes Kalasha puja ritual, coconut is used as the marks of the Tridevs (Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu). The coconut used in Kalasha puja is said the object blessed by the Tridevs, so they’ll kept it in their household, for their house would be blessed all the time, until the next puja comes that the coconut form the previous use is offers to flowing in the river.

The arrangement in Kalasha Puja, the pot is filled with water and mango leaves, with the coconut on top
(picture from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalasha)

Since the coconut is resemble the human head, the smashing of the coconut in Hindu means releasing the individual selfness and purifying their mind. The broken coconut also means the broken of any obstruction. Nowadays, this ritual is done before the starting of new business as a sign of break apart anything that would be holding back success.

Coconut is also used in the funeral, too. In many countries includes Thailand, coconut water is believed that is one of the most purify water, in the same of the water from Ganges the sacred river. The custom to use the coconut water to purify the dead bodies can be found in many countries in South and South-eastern Asia. Unlike other region, the funeral of Tamil people in some regions is carried by the bodies are smashed with the whole coconut fruits before burning to ash.

In Thailand, coconut is also used in the Royal Swimming Ceremony, a ceremony to purifying the body of the Royal family (and training them in the swimming). During the ceremony, the participating Prince is going into the water with a pair of germinated coconuts covered with golden and silver paper. The germinated coconut is the symbol of the growth and success, so the Prince with the coconut would growth and success in the future. The coconut also helps in floating, so the Prince would not be drown during the ceremony.

In Myanmar, the coconut is used as the offering to the Nat, the guardian spirit in Burmese culture. This plant is used to worshiping two head Nat, Nga Tin De and Shwe Myat Hla. This custom was started in the era of King Kyanzittha. The legend told that these two Nat were helping King Kyanzittha so much until he claimed the right over the throne. Respect from their help, King Kyanzhittha announced them as the Head of the Royal Nat and told his people to worship them with the coconut fruit. The offered coconut can use as a sigh to predict the health of people in the household when illness is happen. If the coconut water still full and the flesh still fresh, the illness will gone in the recent time with no serious damage. If the coconut water is dried, the illness will worsen. The new coconut offering should be replaced to prevent the worsening of illness.

And the story of coconut in a part of the rituals and ceremonies would be end here.

Coconut story part III - of the traditional measurement in Thailand, Tanan

Now we know the origin of the words “Ma-prao” and “Kala”, which means coconut and coconut shell in Thai, respectively. Next I’ll talk about a coconut-related word – Tanan.

Tanan is a name of Thai ancient measurement, mostly used in measuring rice. The Tanan is made from the coconut shell with one “eye”. In Thai history, the word Tanan was officially mentioned in the era of King Ramathibodi I, the founder of the Kingdom of Ayutthaya. However, it was believe that coconut shell was used as Tanan since, at least, in the Kingdom of Sukhothai era, due to the resourcefulness of coconut in Siam at that time.

In the time of King Rama VI, Thai ancient measurement was converted to the metric system. The Tanan was officially announced that equal to one liter. However, due to the famous of the metric system, the use of Thai ancient measurement was gradually decreased. Nowadays, Tanan is only used in child’s play song or idiom, like “stuffed with Tanan” means very packed.

The word “Tanan”, like Ma-prao and Kala, is not originally Thai word. Some believe that it derived from the Marathi word “Naral” means coconut. Others believe that it comes from the Khom word “Neal” means coconut shell (some say that the word Neal is exactly Naral, in Khom accent). Since these kingdoms had the culture exchanging with Siam for the long time, both hypothesis are acceptable.

Coconut story part II - The origin of Thai words for coconut

Last time, I wrote a topic about the root of Thai word meaning clock (nalika) that related to the word meaning coconut. This time, I’ll talk about the root of Thai word for coconut.

Thai word for Coconut can pronounce as “Ma-Prao”. This word is originally derived from the Malayayan word Koppara “the coconut meat”. After adaptation, the koppara is come to Prao for easily pronunciation in Thai then adding the prefix Ma (derived from “Marg” means fruits in Thai language) to become Ma-Prao in this present. The word Koppara is also believe that is the root for word Copra that used to called the dried coconut meat, too. 

The word Koppara sounds like Kallapa, which is the sacred tree of anything that one can wish for, growing in the era of Metteya the next Buddha. This might come from the numerous usefulness of coconut tree, so Indian people respect the coconut and give it the Kallapa name.

The norm to called coconut as Kallapa was passing through Malaysia and Indonesia continent. They called this plant as Kalapa. The name Kalapa is also given to the island in Indonesia, which is rich of coconut in its continent (this island is currently Jakarta). In Thailand, Kalapa is known as the city famous in imported high-quality mirror, hat and rose apple. The word calling coconut shell in Thai “Kala” might be related to the Kalapa word.

"Kala" - or coconut shell. The three "eyes" make it looks more like the real human skull. 

Moreover, another word called the coconut shell in Thai is “Ka-loag”, which also means “skull” in Thai. This way of naming is identical to the root word of coconut, which originally derived from Spansh word “coco” means “skull”. How wonder that two isolated countries have the similar way to name a plant!

Coconut story part I - coconut and clock in Thailand

I happened to have a chance to taste the new daily product, the coconut water flavor in the previous days. The odor of fresh coconut, combines with the sweet & oily taste of cow milk is quite a good match. Overall, it taste good and worth my spent money.

In Thai language, the world means clock (na-li-ka) has a strong relationship with the coconut. However, I should start with a brief description of coconut.

Coconut or Cocos nucifera is a plant in Araceceae family (the palm tree family). The consumable parts are the flesh and the water, which is indeed the endosperm – a part of the seeds. The real coconut “fruit” is the husk and the hard shell surrounded the “flesh” and “water”. 

Coconut fruits, Taling Chan District, Bangkok

In the southern India, coconut is called in Tegulu as “nalike”. This name was given to both the coconut itself and the island located in Southern India, where numerous coconut trees are grown. The legend says that the native people of this island ate coconut as the main ingredient of their diet. 

Then what is the relationship between coconut and clock in Thailand? In the past, Thai people use the hard shell of coconut (called “Kala” in Thai) for many purposes, including for time count. They were placed the pored coconut shell in the container filled with water and wait until the shell was sunken into the bottom of the container and set as one cycle of the time count. They named this time count as “one Nalike” after the name of coconut in Tegulu. When the mechanical clock firstly arrives in Thailand, Thai people given the name Nalike to the clock, as a symbol informed that this is the tool to tell time. Time past and the name was chance, for easier pronounce, as “nalika”. Nowadays, the word nalika is officially used in Thailand as the clock. 

So the Thai word for clock is originally derived from the name of the coconut in Tegulu.

Shǔqúcǎo, the precious weed in Chinese Ghost Festival

Today (28 Aug 2015) is the Chinese Ghost Festival day in Thailand, so I think I could write about some plant that relate to this festival.

The Chinese Ghost festival day is the day Chinese people believe that the spirits includes their ancestors come out from the netherworld to the human world. So it’s the important task to prepare food to offer them when they’re arriving. The most common food used in this festival is the pyramid-shape stuffed dough.

Originally, this stuffed dough’s pastry is mixed with some kind of weed known as shǔqúcǎo or Gnaphalium affine, a member in Compositae family. This plant is a kind of nativecudweed in East Asia region. Due to its peasant aroma, shǔqúcǎo was used in many Chinese cuisine, both food and sweets. It also contains numerous benefits as the medicinal herb, for example, it is traditionally used as antitussive, expectorant, febrifuge.

Gnaphalium spp., Phu Thap Boek, Phetchabun province.

Although it is the native plant in East Asia region, shǔqúcǎo can be found at high attitude region in Thailand, too. However, there is no official Thai name given to this plant until the present day. Other Gnaphalium plants found in Thailand (G. hypoleucum and G. polycaulon) also don’t have Thai name.

Kalamet (Chan), from the cosmetic to the executed tool

The previous Thanaka topic was mentioned about Kalamet, as a part of Thai traditional cosmetic as well as thanaka. This time I’d like to write about the Kalamet itself.

Kalamet or in Thai “Chan” is a plant with the scientific name Mansonia gagei, a member of Sterculiaceae family. It is the native species of the South-Eastern Asia continent. In the ancient time, this plant is valuable merchandise, because of its aromatic heartwood. The trading of Kalamet in that time was authorized only by the government, in other words, by the Royal families. It also is traditional use as folk medicine as cardiac stimulant, antivertigo, antiemitic, antidepressant and refreshment agents.

 Mansonia gagei flower (Pictures from the website of  the Forest Herbarium
 Department of National Parks,Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand.)

Since Kalamet is high value, it was used in numerous ways especially for building. The highest use of kalamet in building was at Vientiane, Laos. This city was originally called “Viang Tai Mai Chan”, which means “The city that the fences were built from the Chan wood” – indicating that the fences of this town once were built from the wood of Mansonia gagei.

Set aside from the cosmetic, medicine and building, the kalamet is also used as executed tool for the Nobles. It’s the traditional custom in this country that the blood of the Nobles must not be spilled since it’s like the bad omen for the whole country. Because of this custom, when the Nobles were sentenced to death. They were executed by smashing with a bunch of kalamet wood until they died. This custom also found in Myanmar. The difference is that, in Myanmar, the Noble men were executed by smashing with kalamet wood behind their necks while the women were smashed at the front, to crush their Adam’s apple.

Kalamet is also used after the death, too. Originally, it was used as firewood for the Nobles and Royals. After the decreasing of the kalamet in Thailand, the use of the whole kalamet wood is change. The kalamet wood was cut to the slim pieces and then weaved in a shape of the, and was used in the funeral instead of the whole kalamet wood. This tool (called “dok-mai-chan”) is used until today; even the material is not the kalamet wood anymore. The use of dok-mai-chan is spreading and accepted to the lower class people. Nowadays, dok-mai-chan is used in most of the funeral in Thailand, including my mother's.

Thanaka (Kra-chae), the traditional UV protection cosmetic

Last winter, I had a chance to backpacking to Myanmar for the second time in my life, since the first time is in the summer two years ago (For about my traveling experience to Myanmar, I’ll find a chance to write in this blog in near future.).

One famous thing in Myanmar is the beauty of Myanmese women. The elegant skin of Myanmese girls was told since the ancient era, even  in Thailand there is a idiom described as “she who has Myanmese’s skin and Indian’s eyes” – indicating that the skin like Myanmese people and the brighten-rounded eye like Indian people is the ideal of beauty in Thailand in the ancient time. The secret of the Myanmese-stype beauty is, of course, the magnificent cosmetic called “Thanaka”

Thanaka is the wood powder originally made from the Rutaceous plant named Naringi crenulata (synonym: Hesperethusa crenulata). However, current thanaka available in the market is also made from other plant in Rutaceae family, for example, Murraya spp. and Limonia acidissima or the wood-apple. 

Compressed thanaka powder from Bogyoke Aung San Market, Yangon, Myanmar.

Thanaka (as Naringi crenulata wood) is interested from its UV protecting effect, as well as antioxidant and anti-acne activities. No wonder why Myanmese people have smooth and silky skin since most of them always use thanaka. Moreover, some plants that are used to made thanaka product like Limonia acidissima also contain antioxidant and anti-acne activities, although there is no comparative report between them that which one is the best to be a thanaka.

Myanmese girl with leaves-figure thanaka on her cheek,
Kuthodaw Pagoda, Mandalay, Myanmar.

Thanaka is also the main cosmetic used in Thailand since a long time, but we know in the name of “Kra-chae”. In the traditional way of use in Thailand, thanaka is mixed with sandalwood or Kalamet and other stuff and then called “Kra-chae-chan”. This cosmetic was widely used in the past, even mentioned in numerous literature and folklore. Nowadays, Kra-chae-chan is not more than a rumor or a legend that cannot be existed in the present time. Thai people ignore local Kra-chae in their hometown and travel abroad to Myanmar, just to buy Thanaka back to sell in their country. What a shame!

Mon-Tha, the imported Buddha-history tree

One of the important plants in the Buddha history, although less known compared to Bodhi tree or Sal tree, is the Mon-Tha tree – a celestial plant. According to the Buddha history, this plant is growing on the heaven and cannot be found on earth. Its flower would fall down to the earth only in eight Buddha-related important events, including when the Buddha reaching the nirvana. The Buddha history also informed that, after the Buddha reachind nirvana for seven days, Mahakasyapa and other sangha were going to Kusinara to grant the audience to the Buddha. Before reaching Kusinara, they saw a man carrying Mon-Tha flower as umbrella to protect the sunlight, so they knew that the Buddha was already reaching the nirvana.

In this present in Thailand, the Mon-Tha name was given to one kind of plant which is known as Egg Magnolia (Talauma candollei, synonym Magnolia liliifera), one of the magnolia plants that resemble of Dwarf Magnolia (Magnolia coco), except that the Egg magnolia has yellow petal while Dwarf magnolia is white. 

Mon-Tha flower, Wat Phra Kaew, Chiang Rai province.

However, Egg Magnolia is not the native plant in Thailand territory (the native Magnolia liliifera in Thailand is the variation obovata (Korth.) Govaerts, known as Boon-Tha in Thai). The native habitat and how the Egg Magnolia came in Thailand are still unclear. One hypothesis indicated that this plant might come from Java (currently Indonesia) and pass through Thailand from the south part of Thailand. This hypothesis was supported by the information in Enau, a Thai literature based on an Indonesian literature “Hikayat Panji Semirang”. In one chapter of Enau, it informed that the Egg Magnolia was firstly come from Java.

Moreover, there are some Thai native plants contain “Mon-Tha” in their name, Mangnolia garrettii (Mon-Tha-Doi) and Magnolia hookeri (Mon-Tha-Ang-Khang). These plants might be the Mon-Tha in the Buddha history. However, the current official “Mon-Tha” is Egg Magnolia tree.

What is the exactly "Sal tree" described in the Tripitaka?

Because in last time I wrote the story of Bodhi tree as a part of the Buddha history, I was curious and interesting in the content of this history, which involved a lot of plants occur in Indian peninsula. One of the most important plants in the Buddha history, besides the Bodhi tree, is the Sal tree. Thia plant is connected to both the birth and the death of the Buddha. The Tripitaka informed that Queen Maya (Prince Siddhārtha’s mother) gave birth to him under the Sal tree while grasping its branch during the journey to her hometown. The Buddha then reached nirvana under the couple of Sal trees, too.

The Sal tree has the scientific name as Shorea robusta. The Indian myth told that this plant was born from one of the Indian goddress. She then told human that this plant is the great timber that suits for building house. This might be the origin of the name “Sal” (derived from sala - “house”) came from. Its scientific name also described this property as robusta means strong in Latin.

In Thai-language Tripitaka, Sal tree was translated to be the Rang tree (Shorea siamensis). Unlike Sal tree, this plant is the native species in indochina continent. Their appearance is almost identical, except in the minor detail, for example, the withered leaves of Sal tree are yellow while the Rang tree is red. One possible reason for this confusion between the Sal tree and Rang tree in Thailand might come from the native name of Sal tree in some region in India, which is called Harang tree. The “Harang” sound resemble to Rang in Thai and might cause the misunderstanding that “Harang” is Rang tree.

Another sound-alike plant of Sal tree is the cannonball tree or Couroupita guianensis, the native plant from South Africa continent. In Sri Lanka (and other countries like Indonesia), this plant is called “Sala”, which is sound like Sal tree and some people misunderstand that this plant is the Sal tree in Tripitaka. This misconception was passing through to Thailand, so nowadays you can see the cannonball trees are cultivated in many Thailand’s temples.

From left to right: The flowers of Rang tree, Sal tree and cannonball tree (Pictures from the website of  the Forest Herbarium, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand.)

The original name of Bodhi tree

Since I am the plant lover (inherit from my mother), my house is surrounded with the numerous plants. Some of them are intentional cultivate, but some of them are suddenly appearing out of nowhere. The Bodhi tree (or the sacred fig) is one of the latter, it suddenly appear in my Jan-par pot. I guess its seed might come from the bird’s poopoo.

Bodhi tree, in Jan-par pot, in my yard

The Bodhi tree has the scientific name as Ficus religiosa. Its name describe clearly that this plant is a fig (Figus) that has a religious important (religiosa). Its fruit is traditionally used as antidiarrheal and food digestant.

In Buddhism, This plant is one of the important plants. It was described in the Tripitaka that Prince Siddhārtha, the current Buddha, was awakening under the Bodhi tree. Nowaday, Bodhi tree is respected as one of the symbol of the Buddha.

However, the truth is the name “Bodhi” is not the name represent the one species of plant. In fact, Bodhi (means “wisdom” or “enlighten”) is the name that given to every single tree that every Buddha are awakening or enlightening. For example, in the era of the Metteya the next Buddha, he will awakening under the tree which is now believe that is the Alexandrian Laurel (Calophylum inophyllum), so in that era this plant will honored as Bodhi tree.

So, what is the original name of the current “Bodhi tree” before Prince Siddhārtha was awakening?

From the Tripitaka, it informed that “Gautama Buddha (the current Buddha), after six years of extreme asceticism,  was discovering the Middle Way and  awakening at Assattha tree near Neranjana river”. This Assattha tree had another name called Pipal tree. So the Bodhi tree in this era is originally called Pipal tree or Assattha tree.

So what about the “Pipal tree” in my house? I guess I have to get rid of it in one day before it grow too much to handle.