Picture this: at Huai Khwang Market, mangoes are now being practically given away at the astonishing price of just 20 baht per kilogram. This isn’t a nostalgic reminiscence or a figment of imagination. Pikul, a seasoned vendor who has called this market her home for decades, confesses that she can’t recall a time the prices dipped this low. She exclaims, “I’ve never seen prices so low. This situation is really hurting farmers. Mango growers are in trouble — I feel for them.”
Pikul’s produce arrives fresh every morning from the bustling Simummuang wholesale market. Yet, as the day wanes, she’s cornered into a relentless battle against time, forced to sell overripe mangoes at nearly laughable prices, or face the heartbreak of sending them to waste.
Just a stall away, 26-year-old Tú echoes the disheartening melody. She shares that wholesalers, who draw directly from the lush orchards, are perhaps in even deeper waters. “They complain there’s just too much fruit — way more than usual,” she recounts, adding with a shrug that any surplus fruit often ends up as a windfall for animals.
The Department of Internal Trade has rung the alarm bells, reporting a jaw-dropping 25% plummet in average farmgate prices on major fruit crops this season. Not since a decade ago has such a slump rattled the industry. With export fronts menaced by tariff concerns, the processed fruit sector has hit the brakes, causing mango pulp factories to momentarily silence their bustling production lines and sending the domestic appetite for the raw fruit into a quiet hibernation.
Enter May 7: the Ministry of Commerce rolls out the red carpet for emergency relief. A clarion call was sounded for state agencies to don their capes and purchase directly from farmers, slicing through convoluted supply chains in a bid to stabilize prices. The local commerce offices were tasked with a fresh mission: champion bulk buys aimed at fueling social programs and nourishing school meals.
Beyond these measures, the government vowed to supercharge logistical enhancements. With flair, commerce officials announced plans to untangle transport snarls, waiving highway tolls for fruit-laden trucks, carving out exclusive cargo lanes, and underwriting refrigerated container rentals.
In a twist straight out of a social media campaign manual, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra took to TikTok, decked as a one-day fruit vendor. Flaunting a vivid spread of Thai fruit, she urged her compatriots to “eat more Thai fruit”. Her video, a charming exhibit of mangoes projected for an abundant yield thanks to Mother Nature’s favor, became a podium for the old adage of Thai mangoes’ world-renowned deliciousness.
Yet, amid this digital showcase, Pikul remains unconvinced. She shakes her head, a symphony of skepticism playing on her lips. “I haven’t seen the government do anything — I don’t even watch the news. There’s been no help at all; we haven’t even received the 10,000-baht subsidy,” she laments.
A few stalls down the aisle, Ekkarapee, a 34-year-old vendor, surveys crates of unsold fruit with determined eyes. “It’s completely quiet — no one is buying,” she states matter-of-factly while her husband chimes in, “I brought just 20.5kg of longan today, and 20kg remain. We’re all under a lot of stress.”
From 10am to 10pm, their stall stands, a metaphor for resilience, yet is left largely unbothered as closing time looms close. Ekkarapee reflects on the bleak landscape, “The situation has become much worse compared to last year. I still haven’t seen the government do anything on economic issues. We’re having a really hard time these days.”
The crescendo of the harvest only amplifies the plea echoing from these markets: fruit growers and vendors yearning for one wish above all else, a miracle audience ready to pay prices that at least cushion their mounting costs.
This is terrible! If mango prices are this low, it must be really hard for the farmers to make any profit.
It’s not fair for the farmers. How can they survive on such low prices?
Exactly! And I can’t believe the government hasn’t done more to help them already.
I think it’s great that prices are low! More people can afford to eat healthy fruits.
But what about the farmers, James? They need to earn a living too.
It’s not sustainable in the long run. The farmers will quit growing mangoes if they can’t make money.
It’s a temporary fix for consumers, but the impact on the farming community is devastating!
The government should step in with subsidies, like they do in other countries, to stabilize the industry.
Subsidies could help, but they need to be managed properly or they could just create more problems.
This is what happens when you rely too much on a single crop. Diversification is key!
Maybe the government should focus on creating more export opportunities. That could help balance the surplus issue.
Exporting is not as easy as it sounds, especially with tariffs and restrictions.
Some countries don’t want to import mangoes because of their own production, it’s a competitive market.
I’ve noticed that imported fruits are still expensive. Why doesn’t the government limit imports to support local farmers?
That could lead to a lack of fruit variety for consumers though.
The TikTok political campaign sounds like a gimmick to me; does that really help the farmers?
I doubt it. We need real policies, not just social media stunts.
This is a classic case of supply and demand imbalance. It’s going to take more than just consumption campaigns to fix this.
Absolutely, deeper economic reforms are necessary to tackle this issue.
Any quick fixes would likely only work in the short-term.
Do you think it’s really about economics, or are there other factors at play here?
It’s a mix of both, definitely. Politics, weather changes, everything adds up.
How about using the surplus to create mango-based products? Could that be a solution?
That needs investment in infrastructure and training, but it’s a viable long-term solution.
This situation just shows how interconnected our food systems really are.
Absolutely, and a breakdown anywhere in the chain causes ripple effects across the board.
It’s really eye-opening to see how fragile it all is.
Why aren’t we seeing more collaborations with other countries to export the surplus?
The trade agreements are tricky, and often there’s a lot of red tape that limits such attempts.
It seems like there is no simple answer. Hopefully, the efforts that are being made will see some improvement soon.
I can’t help but feel for the vendors who have to deal with all the frustration firsthand.
This is another reason we should all support local produce more than imported goods!
The crisis exposes weaknesses not just in farming but also in policy making and crisis management.