Thais have been celebrating the world’s most maligned fruit at the World Durian Festival in Chanthaburi, where durian is a major crop.
The festival attracted visitors in their thousands last month and featured a beauty pageant and speed-eating competitions alongside cookery demonstrations and competitions for the largest or most interesting-shaped fruit.
All 10 fruit growing districts in the region were represented with their durian and a range of other fruits for sale including mangosteen, rambutan and longkong. The region is also working year round to change the image of the fruit and educate consumers not to be put off by its bad smell as well as to encourage growers towards more sustainable production methods.
