Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has stressed that the Government is ready to support exports of durian and other tropical fruits, such as mangosteen, rambutan, and longgong, in order to increase farmers’ income and upgrade their quality of life.

The Prime Minister on 27 April 2024 made an inspection tour of the three eastern provinces of Chanthaburi, Rayong, and Trat to listen to local farmers’ problems on durian production and follow up on the fire situation at an industrial waste and chemical warehouse.

He cited durian as one of Thailand’s major economic crops. China is an important importer of Thai durian. In 2023, Thailand exported durian worth more than 93.6 billion baht to China through Mukdahan, Nakhon Phanom, and Chiang Khong customs houses, representing an increase of 81.7 percent over the previous year.

The Prime Minister also observed durian being processed into various products and attended a briefing on the “Chanthaburi model” for fruit production under the Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) guidelines. He had assigned the Tourism Authority of Thailand to cooperate with the private sector and local communities in selling durian packaged tour programs, in which visitors are taken to durian orchards to consume fresh fruit and learn the process of durian production.

The Prime Minister also instructed the Customs Department to ensure that there would be no smuggling of durian imports. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were instructed to work together in providing sufficient water sources to meet the demand of local durian growers.

Concerning the fire situation at the chemical warehouse in Rayong, the Prime Minister ordered the acceleration of the investigation into the blaze. He said that the issue was serious, as it affected the people. Various relevant agencies were told to give a helping hand and ease impacts from the disaster.