Rapee Sagarik – Google doodle on 97th birthday of the father of Thai orchidology

Happy Birthday Rapee Sagarik!!!

Today, on December 4, Google celebrates the 97^th birthday of a renowned Thai horticulturist, botanist and orchid expert, Rapee Sagarik. He is also popularly called the father of Thai orchids or father of Thai orchidology.

Professor Rapee Sagarik was also later president at Bangkok’s Kasetsart University and also served on the Faculty of Agriculture at Maejo University in the northern city of Chiang Mai. He is widely considered Thailand’s foremost expert in the breeding and conservation of these delicate, beautiful plants.

Once considered an exclusive pastime for the wealthy, orchid-growing became more accessible thanks in part to Professor Rapee Sagarik’s research and education efforts. He founded the Orchid Society of Thailand in 1957 and later became a regular speaker at the World Orchid Conference. In 1984, he organized the first Asia Pacific Orchid Conference. Thanks to Professor his efforts, Thailand’s first orchid library opened In December 1993.

Thailand is now the world's foremost exporter of orchids, and many of the most popular varieties were bred from wild Thai orchids.

“These flowers are not like the ones you see every day, which blossom and then wither away,” Rapee Sagarik once observed. Because the beauty of orchids is passed onto future generations, he called the flowers ‘love in humankind’.

Google honors the great Thai horticulturist, botanist and orchid expert with a stunning and magnificent doodle.