I am looking for contacts with people who live/stay in Thailand, or in adjacent countries, interested in exchange/trade of bamboo species on a non-commercial basis. I like to get to know and grow more of Thailand's native species, as well as selected other useful and attractive species from subtropical, tropical and warm-temperate regions worldwide. For every plant out of my wish list, that I can obtain through mail or from a visitor, I will fully cover expenses, or offer free holiday home accommodation, or offer own plants.

Especially, I am looking for non-invasive bamboos species, which are botanically interesting (e.g. rare endemic woody species, climbers, herbaceous bamboos) and show a graceful or impressive habit, but not showy features like variegated leaves or inflated internodes.

Visitors are welcome! I do not travel. First contact via personal email preferred.

KhunDieter You are limiting your self. Only looking for local area sources. South and Central America has a large variety of Bamboo's that Aught to do well in Thailand. Austrailian and US collectors also are a good source. Depends on your Import Laws for Bamboo. Ours here in the US are severe because most of our Agriculture is grasses. Wheat, Corn Ect. and they are fearfull of diseases being imported(not that any Bamboo diseases affect them ).
MarCat

MarCat,

Thailand's import laws for bamboo are less restrictive than those of Australia and the USA: Bamboos are not prohibited to import, import permit is not required, and the bamboo plants/seeds must be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued in the country of origin.

Sources of bamboo species: Actually I am looking for non-invasive bamboo species (plants/seeds) from subtropical, tropical and warm-temperate regions worldwide. I would much appreciate to get species from the Americas (from Mexico down to Chile and Argentina), Africa and Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, southern China and the Pacific islands.

Sources for bamboo trade/exchange: I do not ignore that many species are cultivated and obtainable in the USA and Australia, and it is not in question that plants can be shipped/brought from there to Thailand. However, I have no bamboos for exchange that would attract US or Australian collectors, and if I would have, I could not send them because of rigid import laws. Further, I failed to find any single bamboo retail seller in the USA or Australia providing international shipping. In the ABS Source List, there are a few sellers listed, indicating international shipping, but in their websites is international shipping not mentioned, and email inquiries remained unanswered so far. Within Thailand, I failed to find any single plant nursery specialized in bamboo, which is understandable as local people can obtain useful bamboo plants free of charge at forestry departments, and as there seems to lack a national cultural background for ornamental gardening or garden art.

Certainly I do not look only for local area sources, and I wish to encourage visitors of Chiang Mai, who are interested in any field of bamboo, to contact me.

Appreciate the offer....

I would not get completely discouraged with a lack of response from the bamboo nurseries here in the USA. I have obtained most of my plants from trading, but others who purchase bamboo regularly from different sources have mentioned how hard it can be to get a reply at times. Many of the nurseries operate seasonally, on weekends/evenings or the owners/contacts have other professional jobs and do the nursery thing on the side as a hobby or to make extra income. Hopefully someone that is familiar with a business that has shipped over seas will chime in.

I wish you success in your quest.....

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Rick

My understanding was that there are a few fortunate bamboo people with licence to import from other countries to a USDA-Agriculture Research Station where the boo sits for one year and is checked to be clean of diseases, then distributed to growers and collectors. If so, KhunDieter could maybe trade with them?

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Mike Best

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Mike Best

http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralIn ... ntine.html

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Mike Best

Thailand's bamboo import regulations are less restrictive as I previously thought. The import of plants is ruled by the Plant Quarantine Act (1952, amended 1999).

The Act categorizes plants into 3 groups namely prohibited, restricted and non-prohibited. Import of any genus/species of bamboo clearly belongs to the "unprohibited" group; hence neither phytosanitary certificate nor import permission is required. However, prohibited is import of soil, consequently bamboo plants must be bare-rooted. Although a phytosanitary certificate is not required, it would certainly be wise to attach such a certificate to a consignment/parcel to avoid possible problems or delay in delivery. For small propagules to be sent to Thailand in a bubble envelope by express airmail, no certificate is necessary, and such mails have proven to arrive safely and within reasonable time. Normal airmail would not do as it takes too long (possibly up to three weeks), hence bamboos would not survive.

Consequently, US citizens could easily send bamboos to Thailand, whereas I could not send bamboos legally to the USA. I would much appreciate to receive small bamboo propagules by the mode described above, and compensation will be granted as a matter of course.


Mike Best,
Thank you for your suggestion to deal on an exchange basis with those who hold an import license. However, I currently have only a few still unidentified bamboo species that might be of interest to US bamboo collectors. I will post a topic on these bamboos in the Bamboo Identification Forum later.


rfgpitt,
I admit that lack of response might be due to reasons you described. Other reasons could be the very different and complex handling of overseas orders, risk of loss, risk of survival of bamboos, and low amounts of retail sales.
Finally, I got 1 response.

Khun,

I remember several people that have posted in these forums that have visited Thailand and in fact have studied bamboo in Thailand. One of these folks is Harry Simmons. Here is a link to his family farm site: http://www.simmonsfamilyfarms.com/aboutus.html

He is a very knowledgeable person and can point to a number of places to see bamboo in Thailand. He can probably point to place in Thailand to purchase as well.

You emailed me earlier about B. Nana. I think he has some pictures posted of Bambusa sp. "nana" in this forum somewhere. You can do a search for it.

Good luck with your search.

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Allen D. Aleshire
Bamboo Nut Farm

http://www.boonut.com

Hello Khun,

Im currently in Thailand for 2 weeks holiday and also to look for bamboo species that are suitable to be risen in Mozambique, where I live, to start a small collection at home. The objective is to, in some years, have a good repository of plants to start propagation in a larger scale for sustainable construction development of the farmers of the southern region of Mozambique as they have a very low income from the crops they grow and also very weak construction to face the variable hazards.
For what I have found and investigated, there are 3 species of bamboo in Mozambique, however there is few people interested in these subject and the traditional culture of handcrafts, construction or diet don't include bamboo.
I would be happy to help you in seed collection from Mozambique when I come back.
Also I would like to ask you some information about where I can (or if you can) get some different kinds of bamboo seed for ornamental and for construction and handcraft proposes.

Best
Aladin

Hello Aladin,

Thank you for your message! You are welcome to visit me in Chiang Mai! I already sent you address and all contact details by separate email.

I have a bamboo collection of mainly tropicals and subtropicals on the grounds of Baan Sammi Nature Resort. You can find the link in my Profile page. I would be happy to show you the ornamental species as well as species that are used for construction in Thailand. My bamboo collection is used by Khun Sam as a start-up for his bamboo nursery. You will find the link to this nursery in his website, baansammi.com, which includes a bamboo plant list and seed list as well. Several species/varieties of bamboo plants and a few seeds are currently available (much more in about one year), and both can be exported to your country, Mozambique. This merely depends on the plant import regulations of Mozambique.

I am very curious to get to know which bamboo species you found in Mozambique. Only one species native to Africa, Oxytenanthera abyssinica, is in my collection, a very useful species, which is also recorded from Mozambique.

Have you been in nearby Madagascar and tried to get native bamboos from there? Very little is known about Madagassian bamboos, and there are much more species on this island than in the whole mainland Africa.

All the best,
Khun Dieter

Hi sorry for a little deviation in my request. I am looking for somewhere to spend holiday near a bamboo forest/bush. Home swap will be highly appreciated.

Swaphome, please contact Mr. Theerawit who possibly has suggestions to your request. His contact details please find from the Chiang Mai Bamboo Nursery website:
http://thai-bamboo.blogspot.com/