Vietnamese durian growers causing a stink for Thai farmers exporting to China

One Thai durian grower believes Thailand’s exports will decrease because Vietnam is located closer to China and, in her view, has better quality control

Foreign trade volume of Chongzuo, a China-Vietnam border city, rose to US$11 billion – a surge of nearly 50 per cent, according to a Xinhua report

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Farmer and musang king durian tree in orchard. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 11:00am, 20 Nov 2022Updated: 1:17pm, 20 Nov 2022

Thai durian farmer Busaba Nakpipat remembers the day she became increasingly concerned about the spectre of a growing rivalry between Thailand and Vietnam. It was Saturday, September 19, when Vietnam’s first shipment of fresh durians was exported to China.

“Thailand used to be the only country allowed to export fresh durians to China, while Vietnam used to export processed durian,” she said. “But now Vietnam is our competitor and it worries me.”

Busaba has grown durians for more than 30 years, at one point exporting to China before switching to serve the domestic market. Global exporters of the fruit are not her direct rivals, but have prompted her to take notice of how the Thai durian industry is run. With Vietnam located closer to China and, in her view, having better quality control, Thailand could eventually fall behind.

Busaba visited Vietnam in September and witnessed many durian orchards that she said were expanding at a rate far beyond her expectations.

“Vietnam doesn’t grow as much durian as Thailand but it never stops improving itself. There’s so much room for the durian industry to grow in Vietnam while in Thailand everyone’s competing with each other,” she said.

Thailand, the world’s largest durian producer, has enjoyed almost unrivalled exports of the fruit to China since at least the early 2000s. Thailand’s reputation as a top-quality durian grower enabled it to be the first country to export the popular-yet-pungent fruit to China.

In 2021, Thai durian exports to China grew at a record 68 per cent, with the country shipping more than 875,000 tonnes of the fruit.

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Durians sell for staggering price of US$345 per kilogram at a market stall in Thailand