Thai fruits: what they're called, what they cost at the market and how to take them home in 2026

9/29/2026

A guide to Thai fruits: what the "smelly" one and the "hairy" one are called, what's in season right now, market prices in Pattaya, where to taste fruit straight from the plantation and how to get a fruit basket home without trouble at customs or on the plane.

Thai fruits are half the fun of the trip and the most honest souvenir there is: mango costs about what apples do back home, mangosteen is sold by the bucket, and durian smells so strong that hotels won't let it through the door. How much fruit you can take home depends on your country's customs rules (details below), and not everything survives the flight or is allowed on board. Below: how to recognise a fruit on the stall, what to buy in which month, where Pattaya's honest-price market is and how to pack a basket that arrives home intact. Let's start with identification, because at the market nothing is labelled and the seller speaks Thai. Here are 12 fruits you are sure to meet: 1. Mango (mamuang) - yellow, long and sweet. The nam dok mai variety is the most tender, with no fibres at all. At the market 50-60 baht per kg, from a pickup by the road 25-35. Green mango with salt and chili is a Thai pleasure of its own. 2. Mangosteen (mangkhut) - a dark purple ball the size of a tangerine, and yes, it's the one that looks like garlic cloves inside: neat white segments. Sweet and sour, the queen of fruits. In season 50-80 baht per kg, cheaper from a pickup. 3. Rambutan (ngo) - a red "hairy" ball. Inside is translucent flesh like a lychee's, and the stone won't come away. It spoils fast, so eat it within the first two days. 40-50 baht per kg. 4. Durian (thurian) - a huge spiky fruit, the "smelly fruit". More on it below. 5. Dragon fruit, aka pitahaya (kaeo mangkon) - pink with green scales, white or crimson flesh inside with black seeds. The taste is mild, but it's pretty and doesn't spoil. 60-100 baht per kg. 6. Longan (lamyai) - the "dragon's eye": small brown balls in a thin shell, with clear sweet flesh and a black stone inside. Sold in bunches, still on the branches. 7. Lychee (linchi) - a red, rough little ball, a relative of the longan, only sweeter and more fragrant. Short season, April-June, 70-80 baht per kg. 8. Salak, the "snake fruit" (sala) - brown scaly skin just like a snake's, yellow segments inside, sweet and sour with an astringent edge. An acquired taste, but definitely unusual. 9. Rose apple (chomphu) - a pink or green bell, crunchy and watery, the "fruit that looks like an apple". A lifesaver in the heat. 10. Papaya (malako) - orange inside, soft, with a distinctive smell you either love or don't. Year-round and cheap. Green papaya goes into som tam salad. 11. Pineapple (sapparot) - Chonburi province, home to Pattaya, grows the Sriracha variety: small and very sweet. Sold already peeled and cut. 12. Guava (farang) - a green "fruit like an apple", crunchy, with seeds. Thais eat it with sugar and chili. Durian is the king of fruits and Thailand's main attraction on a plate. It smells like a mix of onion, cheese and sweet cream, and tastes like custard with a hint of garlic. A whole fruit weighs 2-4 kg and costs 120-200 baht per kg, but you don't need a whole one: every market sells cleaned segments in a foam tray from 100 baht. The rules are simple: don't take it into your hotel (a fine of up to 5,000 baht is written into the rules of a number of hotels in Bangkok and the resorts), it's not allowed on the Bangkok BTS and metro, and in a taxi it's best to ask the driver first. Mixing it with alcohol is not a good idea: in 2009 Japanese scientists showed that durian stops the liver from breaking down alcohol. Science knows of no fatal cases, but the hangover will be legendary. The best durian grows in Chanthaburi, 2.5-3 hours from Pattaya: the province produces more than half of the country's entire crop. On Saturdays you can go there on the In Search of Sapphires tour: sapphire mines, a gem market, sunset on a cliff, and on the way back a stop at the Chanthaburi fruit market, where durian is cheaper and tastier than in Pattaya. The second question is the season, because "Thailand has fruit all year round" is only half true. All year round: papaya, pineapple, banana, coconut, guava, watermelon, dragon fruit. The rest keep to a schedule: 1. Mango - February-June, peak in April-May. There's mango in winter too, but it's imported and pricier. 2. Durian - May-August, from April in Chanthaburi and Rayong. 3. Mangosteen - May-August, peak in June-July. 4. Rambutan - June-September. 5. Lychee - April-June. 6. Longan - July-September. 7. Salak - June-September. 8. Pomelo - August-November. 9. Jackfruit - February-May. If you land in October-December, go for pomelo, longan, dragon fruit, pineapples and papaya. Mangosteen and rambutan will still be on the stalls, but at the tail end of the season and three times pricier than in May. Where to buy in Pattaya. Fruit from the stalls on Walking Street and Beach Road costs twice the market price, and it's weighed "by eye". The city's main fruit market is Ratanakorn market on Thepprasit Road: it's open from early morning until 18:00, the wholesalers arrive at night, so the best choice is before 10 am. They also sell baskets for the plane here and wrap the fruit in film for you. The second option is the Naklua market, morning shift from 6 to 12. Even cheaper are the fruit pickups by the road on Sukhumvit, but everything from them has to be eaten the same day. Ratanakorn is 3-4 km from the beach: walking in the heat is not an option, and a tuk-tuk there and back with baskets will cost more than the fruit. It's easier to take a bike from 200 baht a day on your departure day: market in the morning, a last swim in the afternoon, return the bike in the evening and head to the airport. A Honda Click or Yamaha Fino rents for 200-250 baht a day, and a 5 kg basket sits comfortably at your feet. Tasting fruit straight from the plantation rather than the market is a day of its own. Sriracha pineapples grow 40 minutes from Pattaya, and on the Discovery tour you see them right on the plantation: how they grow, how they're picked, and a tasting right in the field. The same programme packs in a fruit breakfast, an oyster farm, a glass bridge and Khao Kheow zoo, daily from 8:00 to 18:00, 1,400 baht for adults and 1,200 for children, lunch and hotel transfer included. With kids, the easier option is one big day out: Khao Kheow zoo with a pineapple plantation - a morning with giraffes and penguins, lunch, and at 15:00 the plantation with a tasting of fresh fruit. Daily, 1,100 baht for adults and 1,000 for children. If you want to eat everything at once, there's Discover Siam: an unlimited buffet of 9 kinds of fruit, a tasting of mango with sticky rice, the very dessert people come back to Thailand for, plus elephants, the White Temple and a show. It runs on Tuesdays and Saturdays with a late pickup at 11-12, 2,000 baht for adults and 1,400 for children. Now, taking fruit home. Here everything depends on your country. Russia and the other EAEU countries allow up to 5 kg of fruit and vegetables per person without a phytosanitary certificate (seeds, seedlings and potatoes excluded). The EU and the UK are stricter: fresh fruit needs a phytosanitary certificate, except for pineapple, coconut, banana, dates and, funnily enough, durian. The USA, Australia, China, Japan and South Korea restrict or ban fresh fruit in passenger luggage, so check your customs website before you buy a basket. Dried fruit and factory-sealed chips get through almost everywhere. Airlines. On most carriers a fruit basket simply counts as your standard cabin bag, there is no separate fruit allowance, so check the weight limit on your ticket. If you want to take more, put the fruit in checked baggage and pack it rigidly. Durian and jackfruit are a separate story: AirAsia explicitly bans them in both cabin and checked baggage, and so do Finnair, Turkish Airlines, Etihad and Scoot. Where there is no explicit ban, perishable food in baggage travels at your own risk, and a basket that smells can be turned away at check-in. If you want to bring durian home, take dried durian or vacuum-packed chips: every airline accepts them. A whole coconut and a whole watermelon won't pass security either: a coconut can't be X-rayed through, and a watermelon can burst from the pressure change. A bonus for anyone flying within Thailand: from 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027, seven airlines (Thai Airways, Thai AirAsia, Bangkok Airways, Nok Air, Thai Lion Air, Thai Vietjet, EZY) take one box of fruit up to 10 kg in checked baggage for free. It works at 20 regional airports: Krabi, Surat Thani, Trang, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen and others. Bangkok and U-Tapao are not part of the programme, and durian is excluded. What survives the flight and what doesn't: 1. Travel well - mango (pick firm, slightly green ones, they'll ripen in 3-4 days), mangosteen (a week without a fridge), longan on the branch, dragon fruit, pomelo, salak, guava, tamarind. 2. Travel badly - rambutan (turns brown after two days), lychee, ripe papaya, cut jackfruit, durian. 3. Don't take at all - whole coconut, whole watermelon, overripe mango. How to pack a basket. A plastic 5 kg basket costs about 100 baht at the market, a 10 kg one 180-200, and they'll wrap it in film for you on the spot. Buy on the morning of your flight or the evening before, not earlier. Soft fruit goes on top, mango and mangosteen at the bottom, and fill the gaps with paper, not bags: fruit sweats in plastic. Don't mix ripe and green mangoes, the ripe ones will leak juice. And never put anything with a stone in your suitcase next to your clothes without film: one burst papaya and your things will smell of Thailand for longer than you'd like. The finishing touch is the ride to the airport. Two baskets plus suitcases are awkward on a bus, and in a regular taxi it all rides on your lap. A private Pattaya - Bangkok transfer starts at 1,300 baht for a sedan for four, luggage included, and there's a minivan if you have lots of fruit and people. You book on the website, the driver comes to your hotel, and the baskets ride in the trunk, not on your lap. Quick cheat sheet: recognise the fruit from the list, buy in season at Ratanakorn before 10 am, check your country's limit, basket in your cabin bag, durian only dried, transfer to the airport. Forward this article to anyone flying home from Thailand this week: they'll still have time to pack a basket that won't get turned away at check-in.