Earlier this month a group of Nonthaburi durian orchard owners protested against a government compensation plan for their orchards which were destroyed in floods last year.
The government plan to pay them THB5,000-6,000 per rai of destroyed orchard was too little they said, and demanded THB12,000-15,000. The durian farmers said they would have to spend at least THB100,000 per orchard to restore the land and produce good yields in coming year.
Durian non (durians from Nonthaburi province) are usually some of the most prized in Thailand and in such high demand that customers book orders before the harvest season. Durians from Rayong province have historically been cheaper than Nonthaburi durians, but because most of the Nonthaburi crops were ruined by last year’s floods there has been a reversal in 2012. Kanyaw (long stem) durians from Rayong now fetch around THB10,000 per fruit whereas last year they sold for THB1,000-5,000.
The Nonthaburi durian protestors assembled peacefully at a temple in early June and left after a local official promised that he would work on the issue for them. Mr. Aniruth Bunyang, one of the orchard owners in Nonthaburi told ThaiRath that the unique quality and taste of Nonthaburi durians are from the delta soil from the rivers in that area.
