I came to Thailand in search of tropical fruit. I had four fruits mainly in mind when I started remotely scouting Thailand — papaya, mango, dragon fruit and watermelon. Now, that I’m here I’ve got way more than I ever bargained for.
Diary Log: The reason I’m on the hunt for all this tropical fruit is because I am focused on improving the health of my digestion, regulating my blood sugar and cleaning up my lymphatic system. I’m also seeking to cleanse + hydrate my cells and flush my energetic frequency in order to elevate it.
Now dearest reader, it’s story time.
Fruit Cart Storytime
My second day in Bangkok, I stumble upon this gentleman wheeling a cart through the alley outside my hostel. It reminded me of that ice cream truck cartoon black cat that I used to get with a Mcdonald’s Happy Meal as a kid. But instead of ice cream, this truck was filled with tropical fruit.
I ran up to him absolutely delighted, as it raced thru my mind “omg the papaya found me!“, excitedly inspecting the inventory of his cart.
“WOW, WOW, WOW! Look at all of your fruit!”. He smiled and giggled, throwing his head back with a beaming smile. Despite not speaking the same language, we were speaking the same frequency = EXCITEMENT. I was excited for the fruit and he’s excited to make a sale in the soi. (soi = street in Thai.)
He opens his cart, and I ask for papaya and mango. He bags up the papaya; easy done. Next though, he grabs a green specimen, and I start shaking my head because I was desperately desiring mango. It had never occurred to me that more than one variety of mango exists on planet Earth. I always just thought a mango is a mango — orange, sweet and juicy. But as botany would have it, t turns out that Thailand is home to a variety of GREEN mangoes.
He gestures to me in Thai that it is a mango, but plot twist: it’s green. He bags it up, I pay him cash and off he rolls. I run off to my hostel absolutely thrilled, it was just my second day in Thailand and already I’ve had fresh tropical fruit practically appear at my doorstep.
I burst into my room ready for a fruit tasting and I look at the green mango and as I feel it, it’s hard. “Oh, for God’s sake!”, I yelp, “it’s not f*$king ripe!” Devastated I fall to the bed, thinking that my afternoon fruit tasting has come to an end before it even started.
And then I refer to the world’s largest digital encyclopedia — Google.
I start frantically searching “can you eat green mangoes unripe?” only to discover that Thai green mangoes are crunchy when they are RIPE!
Armored with this new botanical knowledge, I rise up knowing that my fruit tasting party is back on! I excitedly grab the green mango and chomp into the slice. WHOA… NUTTY?!!!
What an unexpected turn that took. As I chew the Thai green mango, my sensory receptors are hit with a whirlwind of flavors and textures. Crunchy, barely any sweetness, an almost cashew-like consistency with a hint of pistachio, and then an obviously noticeable blandness.
Yes, it sounds like a total juxtaposition. An in-depth description of its seemingly nut-like profile but simultaneously…bland?! However, YES that’s the takeaway. And it was SO good.
My opinion on Thai green mango: I fell in LOVE with it. Rich, yet subtle and hearty, yet not heavy. I would remember this fruit whenever you are trying to change your food habits or cut out naughty eating patterns. It’s such a good healthy morning tea or afternoon snack. It would also be a wonderful addition to evening salads for crunch and texture, as I found it to have a similar texture to Jicama.
I’d love to try it with peanut butter to really enhance and extend that underlying nut-like profile that lurks on the tongue as you chew.
Next up, papaya.
I personally didn’t love the papaya from that cart, because it was a little bit warm. They have big bags of ice in the fruit carts but sometimes with the heat of Bangkok or depending on if they are walking around in the sun or stationed under cool shade, it’s impossible for them to keep all the fruit super icy chilled at all times and I notice that papaya is one that tends to spoil easier.
Now when I get papaya, I make sure to get it between 6 am — 8 am from Khlong Toei market and take it immediately back to my hostel and put it in the fridge.
The fruit cart was my first experience with tropical fruit in Thailand! After that it was like the flood gates had opened and I was on a mission to find a good fruit market near me that was good prices and good quality.
The hunt continues for a good papaya…
Since finding amazingly fresh papaya was a big part of my reason for coming to Thailand, I decided it was TIME to find a real traditional Thai market that sells fruit at an almost wholesale level.
After scouring Google, Reddit, YouTube and comparing all of my findings, it seemed the common verdict was Khlong Toei Market for quality fruit in an abundance of variety with amazing prices.
“Perfect”, I said to myself, “Khlong Toei is just a few stops away on the train for me”. I got up the next morning, packed up my cash and cell phone in my very-touristy fanny pack, and I head for the metro station at 6:00 am to board the train to Khlong Toei.
When I arrived to the market, my mouth DROPPED open. It was JUST like what I’ve seen on TV!
Live turtles and water snakes for sale at the entrance, bags of dried chillies, lemongrass hanging around stands with big bundles of cilantro and basil, fresh coconuts for sale, cats roaming thru the alleys and the echo of Bangkok traffic around the market perimeter.
And as I turned the corner, mangoes and dragon fruit EVERYWHERE.
“THIS. IS. IT.”, I gasp as I am astounded by the piles of dragon fruit and the buzzing business of the market considering it was barely the crack of dawn.
I visited a few stands, found incredible white dragon fruit, papayas, watermelon and mangoes and off on my way I went!
The tropical fruit is something that makes Thailand truly “Thailand”, and the availability and abundance of fresh tropical fruit is one of the biggest draw cards of Thailand holidays for me.
Prices of tropical fruit at Khlong Toei Market in Bangkok
- Dragon fruit (Pitaya) — I get 4 for about 150 baht ($5 USD / $7 AUD). They sell for 55 baht per kilogram. Red/pink dragon fruit is usually priced at about 75 baht — 85 baht per kilogram.
- Papaya (Orange variety)— I get 2 for about 70 baht ($3 USD / $4.50 AUD). They sell for 30 baht per kilogram. You can also ask the vendor if it’s ready for eating same day and they can tell you which one for today, which one for breakfast tomorrow.
- Watermelon —They are sold by 1/4 melon, 1/2 melon or whole watermelon. 1/4 melon is between 30–40 baht ($2 AUD / $1 USD) per 1/4, depending on freshness and quality. 1/2 melon is between 60–70 baht and whole watermelons usually 75–100 baht ($5 AUD, $3 USD). And they are SEEDED watermelons, these thai watermelons HAVE seeds! When I go to the market, I usually get 2 of the 1/4’s, since I’m sharing fridge space and the 1/4 makes it easier to portion for meals.
- Mango (orange variety) — Mangoes really vary between 30 baht per kilo and 55 baht per kilo ($1.50 – $3 AUD / 80 cents – $2 USD). I’ve been told there are a lot of different varieties of mangoes in Thailand, some sweeter than others even among the orange varieties, so I think the price per kilogram depends on variety. But generally, you’re grabbing a kilo of mangoes for about $1-$2!
And most importantly, ALWAYS BRING CASH to the markets in Thailand! Be super sweet to the vendors, they work very hard and SUPPORT the local people of Bangkok!
Prices are correct as of time of article published.
Other Things to Note
How to get to Khlong Toei Market using public transport — Depending on where you are staying, you will take MRT. Get off at MRT stop Queen Asakarit National Museum station and Khlong Toei Market is a 2 minute walk from the train station.
Fruit carts in Bangkok — If you go to one of the fruit trucks in Bangkok , and you order watermelon from them, make sure they are cutting it up fresh before you. Don’t buy the fruit that’s already cut up in bags because it can be very warm from the sun/heat. I buy either whole fruit or the fruit that you see them cut up in front of you. If you buy the watermelon from a cart, ask them if they have a little bit of chilli powder and they can sprinkle it on for you! Always remember to have cash on you — it’s usually about 25–50 baht per bag of fruit ($1-$2).
Don’t poke the fruit at Khlong Toei Market — Particularly the mango vendors get a bit annoyed if you pick up a lot of different mangoes or start poking the fruit with no intention to buy. Communicate with the person running the stand, the way I found out they can tell you which papayas are ready and which one is for next day was just by pointing at different ones and saying “TODAY?” “READY NOW?” and then suddenly she started working with me showing me which ones are “EAT NOW” “EAT TOMORROW”.
What footwear to wear to a wet market in Thailand — I have read reviews saying how there is so much water on ground at these wet markets, and how you need to “leave the nice shoes at home”, but personally I have never had such an experience of getting super wet at the market. I just wear my black sneakers and make an early morning of it! There’s a bit of water on the cement at the markets but nothing crazy. However, it may be dependent on the time of day that I go, mornings are GREAT!
They also sell tons of other stuff at these markets — Tupperware, herbs, fresh veggies and herbs, spices, silverware, live turtles and water snakes and much, MUCH more! Example: I went there stressed out about where I would find a plastic container to carry my fruit around town in for daily use. On my way out of the market buying fruit, I see a whole vendor with cutlery, travel silverware kits, plastic containers, tupperware style containers, the works! It’s something I LOVE about Bangkok, you can always grab whatever you need from a random street corner or alley market as you’re running about the city!
Well, my friends, there we have it — fruit hunting in Bangkok!
I will continue to keep you posted and share more discoveries along the way. Thank you SO much for reading this piece, it means the world to me that you used your precious time to indulge my craft and I hope that you truly enjoyed the time and possibly learnt a lil’ something new.
TLDR; Book the ticket to Bangkok. Go to Khlong Toei Market. Eat lots of tropical fruit. The End.
If you have a question about finding fruit in Bangkok or want to learn how to stay healthy while traveling, just pop a comment on here or email me at [email protected].
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