Bangkok, Thailand has long been known for it’s high-quality orchids. It’s tropical climate is the perfect environment for native and introduced, non-native orchids to thrive. Bangkok orchids dominate the local flower mart and can be spotted everywhere, from high-class restaurant tables to the most modest of apartment windowsills.

But currently, Bangkok is in a state of civil unrest. As reported by the Huffington Post,

…the Red Shirt protesters began their latest campaign to oust the government in March, saying it came to power illegitimately and is indifferent to the poor. In several rounds of violence since then, 43 people have been killed and more than 1,400 wounded, according to the government. The casualty toll included 16 killed and 157 wounded in the latest violence.

These horrific acts of violence are taking place in crowded downtown areas like luxury hotels and shopping malls causing the city to call for a strict curfew. Orchid growers who normally operate 24 hours a day are having to comply to the 9am-5pm curfew, cutting orchid production down by 30%.

According to KITV News in Honolulu, Hawaiian florists expect orchid shipments to “trickle in” or just completely stop over the next few weeks. This is bad news for Hawaiian florists who use the flowers heavily in their graduation leis.

Giving a lei to a graduate is an extremely popular tradition in Hawaiian culture. Friends and relatives line up to present their leis to the new graduate and by the end of the night the grads are covered in mounds of beautiful flowers. Orchid leis are by far the most popular of the Hawaiian floral leis… but unfortunately may be pretty rare this year.

Bangkok fires photo by adaptorplug on Flickr.
Post is brought to you by Local Honolulu,Hawaii Florists.