Indigenous Thai Fruits

Banana or Kluai - Durian - Langsat - Chom-Poo - Tamarind - Mango or Ma Muang
Thai Orange or Som Keow Wan - Pemelo or Som O - Thai Melon or Thang Thai - Ma Fai
Esarn lynchee or Bok Ngeaw - Essarn longan or luuk Kaw

Tropical Fruits grown in Thailand

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Introduction

Have you ever wondered why Thai people are so healthy looking ? One answer could be because they eat such a great variety of amazing fruit.

Visitors to Thailand are therefore strongly advised to indulge in the local produce. So rather than eating a slice of pineapple try a delicious Lam-Yai instead or go for some papaya instead of watermelon. Try a fresh coconut instead of a fizzy coke or taste some durian or jackfruit rather than eating a regular banana. Some doctors even claim that fresh coconut milk feeds the mind just like fish, and durian is well known for being one of the most nutritious fruits in the world. Also there is Rambutan, Pomelo, Custard Apples, Rose Apples, Sapodilla, Tamarind, Guavas, Mangoes .......
and the list goes on and on.

Depending on the season In Thailand you may be surprised at the astonishing variety of succulent fruits available, including not only familiar ones but others that rank high on the scale of gourmet discoveries. Many kinds of fruit are available throughout the year , while some make their much-anticipated appearance for only a few months.

You can find this wonderful array of Thai fruits at almost any public market. A market with a particular large selection of Thai fruit is on Pahonyothin Road across from the entrance to the Weekend Market at Chatuchak Park. While it's quite a distance from central Bangkok, you are rewarded not only by a great variety but also by low prices.

Traditionally complementing almost every meal, Thailand's abundant fruits are served in a wide variety of ways. Fruit Carving is a traditional Thai art and many kinds of fruit , in particular papaya, water-melon, pineapple and sapodilla, arrive at the table transformed by skilled hands into beautiful flowers and other shapes. Close attention is paid to the arrangement of platters of fresh fruit to make a selection as appealing to the eye as it is to the palate.

Thai fruits are also liquefied in blenders to produce nourishing drinks for a hot day, turned into icy sherbets, and used in Western ways to create excitingly different dishes like mango tart, coconut custard and rose apple pies.

Thailand is blessed with over thirty types of fruit ranging from the banana to four kinds of durian, the king of fruits . For visitors who come between May and August, it may be hate at first smell of the prickly durian, but love at first taste of the creamy yellow flesh that surrounds the seeds at the center. The banana is no less interesting. The plant (the stem of the trunk and the flower head) are used for curries. The Thais have made an art form out of decorative use of the leaf, which is also the " eco-friendliest " form of packing on earth for fresh foods. The most famous fruit of the Chiang Mai valley is the Longan, or Lam -Yai, which is a rainy season fruit. To celebrate the fruit, Lamphun holds a Lam-Yai festival for the first seven days of August ending in a parade on the final Saturday. Many other fruits are grown in the valley and come in different varieties. Even though a fruit may not be in season, it can be found in candied or preserved form. Moreover, some fruit like grapes are even coaxed to bear fruit all year round. Thailand is a paradise for those who love fruit. Generally Thai fruits are sweet including those which are traditionally sour such as Santol and tamarind.

Thai fruit crops can be classified into two groups. The first is a seasonal fruit crop which includes, durians, Rambutan,Longan's, Sugar apples, Mangosteen's and Lychees. The second group is a year-round crop which includes pineapples, bananas, papayas, and jackfruits. This is the reason why fresh fruit is available in the local market everyday of the year.

Recently, several temperate fruit crops such as apples, peaches and strawberries have been successfully grown in the hilly areas of Northern Thailand. Actually, the major fruit-producing areas are located mostly in the eastern and southern regions of the country, even then the central region also produces a variety of fruit for the markets in every season, for example Pomeloes are largely grown in Nakhon Pathom Province while Ratchaburi Province is widely known as the grape-producing area etc.

As Thai fruit farmers are always eager to plant new varieties and improve the existing varieties, Thailand is never without fruit.

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