Thailand is home to a large variety of delicious fruits, seasonal such as durian, rambutan, mangosteen, longan, lychee etc. and all-year-round, such as papaya, guava, coconut, orange, banana, pineapple etc. In Betong, among the popular native fruits are orange, durian, rambutan, mangosteen and longkong.
Due to too many orchards and the overwhelming supply of fruits like durian, rambutan, longkong and mangosteen, the price has gone down tremendously. Furthermore, the safety concerns in Southern Thailand had caused a big slide in sales. To help the farmers in Southern Thailand, the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry had decided to buy the fruits like longkong, at certain guaranteed prices, depending on its quality.
The municipality of Betong had also arranged a meeting between the local orchard owners and a cooperative under the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority of Malaysia, hoping to learn from their experience and to open the door for fruits export and re-export. Though nothing solid had been arrived, the meeting was a fruitful start to exchange information and ideas.
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The meeting
Last year I was too busy to “enjoy” the fruits seasons, so this year I decided to have a suburb drive. I was so excited to see so many different kinds of fruits so near to me, along both sides of roads. A lot of fruits were already ripen but the owners just let them be because cost of labor collecting out weighted the sales value. I wished I could fill up my car with fruits and drive back to Kuala Lumpur for my friends!
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The fruits
I also visited one of the former communist leaders in the communist village. Though it was the first time I visited them, his son and grandchildren were so friendly and eager to show me their orchard just behind their house. There were durian, mangosteen, longkong and rambutan. The kids were so excited to show me around the different kinds of fruits. We just pluck and enjoyed the fruits right there.
Their simplicity and happiness impressed me and their smiles have infected and warmed my heart… Look at the pictures, hope it does the same to you too! 🙂
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