Garden in the Sky and Cactus Glasshouse, Nong Nooch Tropical Garden

The Nong Nooch estate dates from 1954, when Pisit and Nongnooch Tansacha bought 1,500 rai of land in Chonburi Province, intending to plant an orchard of coconuts, mangoes and oranges. Inspired by a trip abroad, Nongnooch decided instead to create a tropical garden, which opened to the public in 1980; the Thai-language Wikipedia now puts its extent at about 1,700 rai.

In 1983 management passed to her son, Kampon Tansacha, who has enlarged the garden in stages: the lakes were extended in 1996-97, French-style gardens opened in 1998, and Dinosaur Valley, begun in 2016, opened on 10 April 2017.

The two glasshouses belong to this continuous development, but neither the garden nor the encyclopedias consulted give their construction dates. The official website presents the Garden in the Sky as a personal design by Kampon Tansacha, the garden's owner, while the cactus glasshouse is not credited to any designer. Still in the hands of the Tansacha family, Nong Nooch has always combined a botanical collection with leisure attractions, and its glasshouses are as much about staging as about cultivation.

The cactus glasshouse, near the main entrance, is a tall glazed space whose dimensions and structure have not been published.

The Garden in the Sky is more ambitious. According to the garden's website it covers about 10 rai, or 1.6 hectares, on two levels: a skywalk leads to the upper floor, which can also be reached by a lift for wheelchair users. Beneath a very high ceiling, tall palms disappear into the mist while hanging ferns seem to cascade from the sky. A fog-spray watering system keeps the air cool all year round, and LED lighting supplements daylight for photosynthesis.

The décor blends botany with showmanship: plants trained into hearts, spheres and stars, dinosaur sculptures, pottery assembled into tuk-tuks, arched entrances, and worship areas displaying sacred objects from China, India, Bhutan and Korea.

The cactus glasshouse holds several cactus species, among them the golden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii), native to Mexico, and members of the genus Echinopsis.

The Garden in the Sky shows a much wider range: ferns, bromeliads, orchids, cacti and other succulents, agaves, cycads, crotons, aglaonemas and bonsai, set out at height or hung beneath the roof. The mists produced by the watering system nourish the plants and give the space the feel of a montane forest.

These two glasshouses show only a small part of Nong Nooch's holdings: according to the Thai-language Wikipedia, the garden brings together more than 18,000 species of tropical plants, from orchids and ferns to variegated pineapples, palms, rock gardens and clipped trees.

Nong Nooch lies in Chonburi Province, south of Pattaya, on an estate of more than two hundred hectares. The cactus glasshouse, close to the main entrance, is easily seen at the start or end of a visit; the Garden in the Sky, reached by skywalk or lift, deserves more time, and the coolness maintained by its misting makes it a welcome stop in the heat of the day.

Allow half a day for the whole garden, which also includes French-style gardens, the Dinosaur Valley opened in 2017, Thai-style buildings and orchid nurseries.