11 Best Thai Fruits You Must Try
Besides Thai foods that are already popular worldwide, Thai fruits have gained more popularity in foreign countries because Thailand has a tropical climate and fertile ground, which is perfect for agriculture.
About 50% of the total labor force involves in the agriculture sector. The value of fruit exports, including dried fruits, is more than 125 billion baht (4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2019, making Thailand the world’s 6th largest fruit exporter.
Some Thai fruits are available all year round, such as coconut and banana. They are the most popular ones due to their taste, price, and year-round availability. However, some are only available in particular months, for example, durian, mangosteen, and rambutan.
The chart below shows a list of the best Thai fruits that I would like you to try.
- Durian
- Mangosteen
- Mango
- Rambutan
- Pineapple
- Pomelo
- Rose Apple
- Papaya
- Coconut
- Namwa Banana
- Lychee
- Durian
- Mangosteen
- Mango
- Rambutan
- Pineapple
- Pomelo
- Rose Apple
- Papaya
- Coconut
- Namwa Banana
- Lychee
Fruit Season in Thailand
The chart below shows fruit season in Thailand in both “in season” and “out of season”. In season means fruits are more flavorful and cheaper, while out of season fruits are less flavorful and more expensive.
Durian
Durian is the most divisive fruit in Thailand (or even in the world) that you either love or hate it. For me, I really hate it because of the strong smell. I tried it once about 20 years ago, and that was my first and last time eating durian.
During the durian season, fruit markets will be overcrowded because people wait in a long queue just to buy durians’ packs. This is how popular durian is.
There are about 100 types of durian, and mostly the price is around 100-150 baht per 100 grams in local markets. However, some types could be 2-3 times as much or even more depends on the type, size, taste, and Geographical Indication (uniqueness and origin place of the production.)
If you’re fruit & food lover, you must come to Or Tor Kor Market (ตลาด อตก.) The market is known throughout Bangkok as a high-end market. Premium durian at Or Tor Kor Market can be outrageously expensive, 500 baht per 100 grams.
The most expensive durian in Thailand is “Kanyao” from Nontaburi province; it costs 1.5 million baht for just one durian! Maybe because of the price we named durian “the King of Fruit” and the smell perhaps.
Mangosteen
Durian is considered the King of Fruit, mangosteen is the queen. This is my most favorite one. It has a sweet and tangy flavor. I prefer smaller mangosteen because it tastes a bit sourer than the larger one and another good point is small mangosteen has tiny seeds.
This is a kind of fruit that smaller is better than bigger, in my opinion. So, while purchasing it, go for the small but not the tiniest size.
If you find it’s challenging to open mangosteen, take a small knife and make a shallow horizontal cut on the shell and pull it apart.
Or you can just squeeze it and pull the shell apart but, sometimes, the shell can be quite hard, so it could be difficult to open it with bare hands.
Therefore, I prefer using a knife. Here is a video on how to eat mangosteens.
There is a super delicious and rare product of mangosteen, we named it “Mung Kud Kad”.
It’s rare since it’s only found in Thailand’s southern region, specifically Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
It is made of young green mangosteens, but it needs to be peeled, cleaned and rinsed in a saltwater solution before serving.
Mung Kud Kad has less sweet, more acidic with a crunchy texture than ripe purple mangosteen.
Rambutan
This hairy red fruit is my second favorite. Rambutan is typically a bit sweeter but less acidic than mangosteen. Its outward appearance may look ugly, but you will see the delightful fruit inside when the outer skin is peeled away. It has a hard seed in the middle.
You can use a knife to open a rambutan in the same way you do on mangosteen. However, if you got no knife, you can open it with your hand: grip it firmly, put pressure on your thumbnail and tear up the shell.
Namwa Banana
In Thailand, we have a few varieties of bananas. I might skip the standard long banana (Cavendish banana) that you already have at home. You should try the smaller ones which have more flavor, it’s called Namwa banana (aka Gluay Namwa in Thai). It is my favorite because it’s a little sweeter, juicier than the Cavendish banana, and a bit tangy aftertaste.
However, if you’re in Thailand and see fruit stalls in local markets, you could get confused between Namwa banana and Egg banana. Egg banana (aka Gluay Khai in Thai) is in a darker shade of yellow and a little thinner than Namwa. Egg banana is the sweetest among the three.
I think most people love bananas, so I would love to recommend you the Grilled Banana that usually serves with coconut palm sugar sauce, and the Fried Banana which is crispy and much less sweet than the grilled. Both are made of Namwa banana.
They are cheap, one serve is about 30-40 baht. You can find it in food court area in department stores like Siam Paragon, and also on street food carts.
Where is Siam Paragon? >>> Find out how to get to Siam Paragon and what to do in Bangkok…
