The International Horticultural Expo, due to be hosted by Udon Thani province in November 2026, is likely to be postponed to November 2027 at the earliest, due to delays in construction of buildings and other facilities at the project site and a shortage of funding.
The Thai organising committee will seek permission from the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) to postpone the event for about a year.
Groundwork at the project site, which is wetland at Nong Dae in Kut Sa sub-district, began in May this year and is scheduled to be completed in January at a cost of about 100 million baht. The construction of buildings and other facilities is yet to commence, as only one company showed interest in the project but, ultimately, pulled out because the median price of the project was too low and the contractual deadlines for the completion of the complicated construction were too tight.
Moreover, backfilling of the swamp requires that the water be drained out, which is affecting the source of raw water for surrounding villages.
The total cost of the project was estimated at 2.5 billion baht, but the AIPH team, which inspected the project site, proposed that at least 5 billion baht would be needed.
Additional funding was sought from the government of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, which rejected the proposal as unviable.
