For starters, I've always heard of Japanese cherry trees. We had them in my yard growing up. I've never heard anyone say anything about Thailand cherry trees until I started looking up what craft we could try our hands at for this stop of the "World Culture Tour."
Cherry blossoms, or "sakura", are the pink flowers on cherry trees, but they can have different shades of pink and different numbers of petals. There are actually over 100 different types of cherry trees in Japan alone! So, the ones in Thailand, then, are a continuation of that slight variation from tree to tree from what I can tell. However, I am no horticulturist. I just think they look pretty.
Apparently, these trees are called "Nang Phaya Sua Krong" in Thailand and are more of the Himalayan variety. The best viewing spots in Thailand are in the northern highlands, generally in the Chiang Mai provice, such as in Khun Chan Kian. The best time to spot the bloom in Thailand is December through February, while it's March-April in Japan.
In Japan, the blossoms symbolize beauty and mortality. In Korea, cherry blossoms symbolize purity and beauty. While I didn't find, specifically, what the beautiful blossoms symbolize in Thailand, I can only assume it's similar.
For our craft, we started by drawing our tree. Then, we took a soda bottle and dipped its bottom in pink paint. We tried a 2-liter at first, but the flowers were a bit too big, so we downsized to a 20 ounce bottle. Then, with it dipped in pink paint, we stamped our cherry blossoms all over our trees. Finally, we added some scenery to form a more complete picture.
Click to see more of the World Culture Tour!