Thailand is also the land of fruit, you will find it everywhere, peeled, ready to eat, here is a small list of the best fruits in Thailand.
Fruit in Thai: Phon la mesh , ผลไม้
If there's one country that can encourage you to eat more fruit than usual, it's Thailand .
Not only Thai fruits inexpensive, but you can also find them easily in restaurants and markets.
And if you don't want to travel, you can just hail a street vendor who will sell you the chosen fruit, cut into pieces in a plastic bag with a wooden skewer, for 20 baht.
Your trip to Thailand is also an opportunity to eat a lot more fruit than usual and realize the positive effect it will have on your health.
Fruit seller and his cart
List of the best fruits in Thailand:
Menu
1. Mangosteen, mang-kout , มังคุด
Inside of the mangosteen
For me, it is the best fruit in Thailand, the one I give priority to people who do not know the country, and it is also very rich in vitamins.
For Thai people, it is the queen of fruits, or the second best fruit, the first, the king, is the Durian.
See our article: The Mangosteen Tree and its Fruit, the Mangosteen
2. Durian, Thourian , ทุเรียน
Durians
It is the best fruit in the world for many Asians, but it is not unanimously appreciated in other cultures.
Some people find it smelly and tasteless, while others find it smelling intoxicating and tastes delicious.
The first time I ate it, it reminded me of avocado flesh with less flavor, the second time I liked it, but nothing more.
In any case, it should never be consumed with alcohol, it can make you sick or kill you!
See our article: Durian and its strong-smelling fruit
3. Papaya, Malako , มะละกอ
Papaya cut in half with seeds.
In Thailand, you can enjoy green papaya as a vegetable, in Som Tam , for example, or as a fruit.
The papaya tree is truly a generous tree. It not only produces delicious fruit, but also the juice from its leaves can treat dengue fever and zika , and its peppery-tasting seeds are a vermifuge.
See our article: The Papaya Tree and its fruit, the papaya
4. La Mango, Ma Mouang , มะม่วง
Sticky rice with mango and coconut milk
Of course, you know mango, but in Thailand you can eat it in very different ways, such as with sticky rice and coconut milk , or green and crunchy to be enjoyed with a mixture of sugar, salt and chili.
You will also have, on many occasions, the opportunity to drink its fresh, thick juice, straight from the blender, one of the best fruit juices in my opinion.
See our article: The Mango Tree and its fruit, the mango
5. Dragon fruit (pitaya), Kèow Mang kon , แก้วมังกร
Pitaya, the dragon fruit.
Mang Kon means dragon in Thai.
A fruit that is a bit reminiscent of kiwi in its consistency, you may have tasted bland ones, without much taste, in Thailand, I had the opportunity to taste some really delicious ones, very sweet with purple flesh.
See our article: Pitaya and its Dragon Fruit
6. The Watermelon, Taeng Mo , แตงโม
Watermelon wedge.
When it's really hot, there's nothing like pieces of watermelon to quench your thirst.
In Thailand, you will find it very easily, as watermelon is one of the fruits always present in the carts of street fruit vendors.
7. Le Jaque (jackfruit), Ka Noun , ขนุน
Jackfruit.
Jackfruit is a sweet fruit that tastes a bit like candy.
It is better not to buy the whole large fruit in a market if you do not know how to do it, the inside contains an extremely sticky part and it is very difficult to cut.
Fortunately, in Thailand you can easily find the edible parts of the fruit for sale in plastic bags.
See also: The Virtues and many benefits of jackfruit
8. Longan, Lam Yaille , ลำไย
Longan.
Fruit of the lychee and rambutan family, which is sold by the bunch, the taste is very close to lychee, Thais are particularly fond of it.
Longan is rich in vitamin C and potassium
9. Langsat, langsatte , ลางสาด
Langsat.
Langsat is a small fruit sold in bunches like longans or lychees, but with a very particular taste, between citrus and lychee, surprising and delicious.
The fruit consists of 5 or 6 segments, with slightly bitter seeds.
10. Tamarind, makham , มะขาม
Tamarind.
A sour fruit widely used in Thai cuisine and particularly useful for constipated people, it is the equivalent of prunes to the power of 10, to be avoided if you have a sensitive stomach.
On the other hand, there is a variety of sweet, non-acid tamarinds, Makham Wan in Thai, which you absolutely must try if you have the opportunity. The fruit has the same shape, but the envelope is red.
And you can eat as much of it as you want, it won't make you go to the bathroom like regular tamarind.
Sweet tamarind
11. Grapefruit, Som O , ส้มโอ
Thai grapefruit.
I've never been a big fan of French grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) but I really like Thai grapefruit (Citrus grandis).
Their pretty pink flesh and their sweeter, less bitter taste will make you fall in love!
12. Pineapple, saparotte , สับปะรด
Sliced pineapple.
The small ones are particularly sweet and tasty, and are also a fruit often found in street vendors' carts.
13. The Java Apple, Chom pou , ชมพู่
Java apple.
It's a crunchy fruit, a little sweet and sour, with an original taste, but nothing more.
It's a bit bland, so it's worth eating it Thai style, with a mixture of salt, sugar and chili, which enhances its flavor a little.
14. Guava, Farang , ฝรั่ง
In Thai, "foreigner" is called " Farang " (see Thai language: vocabulary to know ) so it's a word that you will hear often and you will be able to remember the name of the guava easily.
Guava is a crisp and refreshing fruit that should also be eaten Thai style, with a mixture of salt, sugar and chili.
The Sala, Sala , สละ
Sala.
You will surely be intrigued by this thorny fruit on the markets, it comes from a species of palm tree with trunks covered in large thorns.
Sala has a rather special sweet and tangy taste, a bit like medicine, personally I'm not really a fan, but I'm just putting it here for info.
See also:
Fruit carving in Thailand, a delicious art
Medicinal plants in Thailand: Thai names and properties
Prepare your trip to Thailand
Book bus, train, or boat in Thailand
Manage your money while traveling with Wise
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2 comments
Great list of fruits, but there is one typical and very good fruit missing, with a very strange shape that deserves its place in the list: the rambutan. Its name, rhai, is difficult to pronounce.
Hi Hervé,
In fact, I put the Longan, specifying that it is from the same family as the Lychee and the Rambutan, it gives the same fruit with the same taste, so I didn't want to repeat it.
But it's true that it's an original fruit, with its hairs and the name is actually difficult to pronounce, เงาะ which is roughly ngo, ng is difficult to pronounce and it's very close to the word ngo for stupid.
I had met a pretty Thai girl called ngo (ranbutan), but every time I wanted to say her name she looked embarrassed and corrected me, at the time I didn't know ngo for stupid and I must have mispronounced it!