Thai fruit festival

Throughout Thailand, a vast selection of fresh fruits are available all year round. However for a taste of the very best of Thai fruits, the height of the summer in May and June is the peak season. During this time of the year, a delightful assortment of exotic Thai fruits come into season.

Crispy and crunchy raw mango or ripe mangos juicy and full of flavour; sweet and fragrant bananas and custard apples; succulent fragrant longkong and zalacca; tangy thirst-quenching langsat and mangosteens; sweet rambutans, longans and jackfruit with thick, fleshy pulp; and rich, creamy durians. Refreshing and nutritious choices abound.

As succulent fruits ripen on the trees and are ready for harvest, fruit orchards in many of the eastern provinces of Thailand such as Chanthaburi, Rayong and Trat are open to visitors, presenting wonderful opportunities for private tours of the orchards and plantations, and agrotourism. Several offer fresh fruit buffets and ‘all-you can eat and pick’ at irresistible prices.

THE CHANTHABURI FRUIT FESTIVAL
MAY 1 to 9,
Venue: Chanthaburi Sports Stadium

Highlights Fruit fair and sales of freshly-picked produce from the orchards
“Best Fruit” contests
Sales of unique products from each of the villages featured in the “OTOP - One Tambon One Product” promotional campaign
Beauty contests
Agrotourism: Tours of orchards

The eastern provinces of Chanthaburi, Rayong and Trat, are reputed to be the finest producers of such exotic tropical fruits as durian, pomelo, zalacca, mangosteen and rambutan. With a ready supply of freshly-picked fruits from the nearby orchards throughout the summer months from May to July, the annual Chanthaburi Fruits Festival on May 1-9, is the perfect place to savour the very best of a great variety of fresh Thai fruits, as well as locally processed fruit.
The annual fruit festival is extremely popular and attracts visitors from miles around because it provides a welcome opportunity to shop for products of exceptional quality, at truly bargain prices.

Colourful entertainment presents an added plus. In addition to contests such as the "Best Float", creatively decorated with fruit, "Best fruits" (durian, rambutan, mangosteen and longkong), "Best Processed Fruits", fruit-eating contests and the ever-popular beauty contest, other highlights include demonstrations of food-processing, gemstone cutting, jewellery manufacturing, the making of sedge mats and other attractions. The festival also features a vast array of quality local produce considered to be "Chantaburi's Best". The dazzling gemstones of Chanthaburi are yet another irresistible buy.

The Chanthaburi Fruits Festival is organised by Chanthaburi province jointly with TAT and representatives of "Talad Thai" - the wholesale market.

As the various types of fruits come into season at different intervals throughout the year, many other fruit fairs are held around the kingdom.

MAY 1-9
RAYONG FRUIT FESTIVAL
The Tapong Fruit Market, Rayong province, and
Fruit markets and orchards throughout Rayong province

Fruit Festival Parade featuring a procession of floats decorated with fruit
Beauty contests
Fruit contests including the ‘Best Fruit’ and quality product contest
Sales of freshly-picked fruit
Sales of village crafts and products under the OTOP -
One Tambon (Village) One Product promotional campaign
According to local connoisseurs, durian, pomelo, zalacca, mangosteen and rambutan grown in the eastern provinces of Chanthaburi, Rayong and Trat, are ‘the best’ in the country. The province of Rayong has thus made a name for itself as a treasure trove of exotic tropical fruits. To promote the sales of fresh fruits from the surrounding orchards, processed food items and other local products, Rayong province hosts an annual Rayong Fruit Festival.

In addition to fruit contests, displays of agricultural and horticultural produce and sales of local handicrafts and products from each of the villages promoted under the OTOP – One Tambon One Product theme, a procession of colourful floats decorated with fruit and flowers paraded through the streets, beauty pageants, cultural performances and folk entertainment add to the festive ambience of the event.


MAY 21– JUNE 6,
LYCHEE AND CHIANG RAI PRODUCE FAIR 2004At Maekorn Farmer's Market,
Phaholyothin Road,
Muang District, Chiang Rai

Lychee, one of the world’s favourite exotic fruits, is in season only for a brief period in May and June. This is also the time to visit the lychee orchards around Chiang Rai and savour the freshly-harvested fruit, or to ‘pick-and-taste’ as you go along.

Peel back the reddish skin to reveal its sweet and juicy, white flesh with fragrant aroma. Chiang Rai’s lychee is considered to be among the best in Thailand, and the most delicious of its kind. Lychee is best eaten fresh, but it is also dried, frozen, and canned.

To promote its fine crop of lychees, Chiang Rai, the northernmost province of Thailand, organises an annual Lychee Fair. The colourful fair features agricultural displays and exhibitions, contests and sales of lychee and other agricultural products such as mango and the famous Nanglae pineapple, local handicrafts, beauty contests and folk entertainment.

Enjoy the local flavours of lychee as well as other delicious northern Thai food and fruits, and purchase reasonably-priced handicrafts such as hand-woven cotton materials, dresses and hill tribe silver ornaments, and woodcraft.