Chanthaburi: "Suphajee" has successfully coordinated the sale of all fallen durians from Chanthaburi, urging assistance for farmers. Supajee revealed that coordination with buyers of durians that had fallen due to summer storms in Chanthaburi province has resulted in all of them being sold. She is moving forward with measures to process, quality control, and market linkages to help reduce losses and sustain farmers' income.

According to Thai News Agency, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, Suphajee Suthumpun, posted on her Facebook page, stating that the summer storms that hit durian orchards in Chanthaburi province caused damage to nearly ripe durians in many areas, particularly causing durians to fall from the trees. The Ministry of Commerce promptly coordinated with the provincial governor and local agencies to assess the damage and arrange for the distribution of the affected durians to the market and for processing. Currently, all the damaged durians have been sold.

Of this fallen durian, approximately 80% is used by businesses in the ice cream industry, focusing on texture; 10% is ripe durian for processing into durian paste; and the remaining 10% is unusable and repurposed for other uses, such as fertilizer. For durian that is still of good quality and marketable, with a dry weight exceeding 30%, the Ministry of Commerce will coordinate with buyers and businesses to select produce from orchards for processing into various products, especially fried durian, in order to reduce losses and generate income for farmers.

Meanwhile, the Department of Internal Trade will provide special attention to durians that are still on the trees and undamaged. They will coordinate with buyers to purchase the produce directly from the orchards, creating a market and helping farmers sell their produce continuously throughout the season.

For durian that cannot be sold or processed, appropriate management measures will be implemented to prevent substandard produce from entering the market, thereby maintaining the standards and consumer confidence in Thai durian. Furthermore, the Ministry of Commerce is coordinating with the Ministry of Interior to urgently discuss ways to assist and compensate farmers affected by the disaster.

"The Ministry of Commerce extends its support to durian farmers in all areas and confirms that it will expedite assistance, care, and measures to fully support the surplus produce so that farmers can overcome this situation as quickly as possible."