Thais abroad warned not to buy fresh fruit to bring home

[snoop1130]

 

Thais travelling abroad have been warned not to bring fresh fruit back to Thailand, as they may face legal action.

 

Agriculture Department Director-General Rapeephat Chantarasriwong said that a number of Thais travelling abroad, particularly to Japan and South Korea, have brought fresh fruit, such as grapes and persimmon, back to the country without certificates indicating that it is free from pests and plant diseases.

 

He said that the plant quarantine checkpoints at the Suvarnabhumi airport have confiscated a lot of fresh fruit being brought back by Thai travellers, many of whom claimed they bought them according to advice offered by their guides.

 

Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thais-abroad-warned-not-to-buy-fresh-fruit-to-bring-home/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-11-11

 

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[ikke1959]

too healthy food, same as e cigarettes danger for your health, whats is next?? alcohol is already restricted

[gomangosteen]

I expect most countries have restrictions on people randomly bringing in fruit, though the Thai penalties are light comparatively, up to one year imprisonment/20000 baht fine.

They may like to consider the tourist fined in July for bringing half a Subway sandwich to Australia - $AU2644, that's $US1844.

[Sparktrader]

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

too healthy food, same as e cigarettes danger for your health, whats is next?? alcohol is already restricted

Oz bans all fruit.

[Sparktrader]

9 minutes ago, gomangosteen said:

I expect most countries have restrictions on people randomly bringing in fruit, though the Thai penalties are light comparatively, up to one year imprisonment/20000 baht fine.

They may like to consider the tourist fined in July for bringing half a Subway sandwich to Australia - $AU2644, that's $US1844.

$220 is standard fine

[gomangosteen]

10 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

$220 is standard fine

May have been, but:

From 1 January 2021, range is AU$444 to AU$2644. Visitor, student and temporary work visas may be also be cancelled.

 

Thailand may like to try enforcement of the existing system rather than issuing warnings as the linked article states.

 

For a province such as Chanthaburi where much of the economy is from export fruit primarily durian, the risks from imported/untreated fruit would be devastating.

Durian is Thailand’s top export earner, outranking rice and rubber

June 13, 2022

Post  

Thai durian has outranked rice and para rubber as Thailand’s top export performer, with export volume last year estimated at about 187 billion baht, compared to 100 billion baht for rice exports and 90 billion baht for rubber,

 

[Lemsta69]

3 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

too healthy food, same as e cigarettes danger for your health, whats is next?? alcohol is already restricted

dude are you high? it's got nothing to do with the fruit being 'too healthy' and everything to do with biosecurity. 

[Lemsta69]

1 hour ago, gomangosteen said:

I expect most countries have restrictions on people randomly bringing in fruit, though the Thai penalties are light comparatively, up to one year imprisonment/20000 baht fine.

They may like to consider the tourist fined in July for bringing half a Subway sandwich to Australia - $AU2644, that's $US1844.

she wasn't a tourist mate, she was a local. she should know about Australia's strict biosecurity rules and if she didn't then the questionnaire she completed before arrival should have given her pause to think about what was in her bags. 

 

but some people don't like to learn new things as I found out growing up down under. the only things some people take seriously are the lineup of their footy team and which is faster, a V8 Commy or a V8 Falcon ????

[Elkski]

We hadn't planned on bringing more fruit than we can eat during travel but was thinking of turkey jerky.  Not a large amount but sometimes it's a nice snack on a cracker with cheese.  

I guess meat products not ok and what about cheese?

[Sparktrader]

2 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

she wasn't a tourist mate, she was a local. she should know about Australia's strict biosecurity rules and if she didn't then the questionnaire she completed before arrival should have given her pause to think about what was in her bags. 

 

but some people don't like to learn new things as I found out growing up down under. the only things some people take seriously are the lineup of their footy team and which is faster, a V8 Commy or a V8 Falcon ????

Jet lag you forget

[Sparktrader]

2 minutes ago, Elkski said:

We hadn't planned on bringing more fruit than we can eat during travel but was thinking of turkey jerky.  Not a large amount but sometimes it's a nice snack on a cracker with cheese.  

I guess meat products not ok and what about cheese?

Processed food ok normally. Its the fresh stuff that has risk. Tinned and package ok if not open.

 

Beef jerky ok cause its not fresh.

 

Chips, peanuts ok 

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, Sparktrader said:

Oz bans all fruit.

Oz bans a lot more than fruit, it's one of the strictest on the planet in terms of quarantine laws. With good reason.

[Lacessit]

20 minutes ago, Elkski said:

We hadn't planned on bringing more fruit than we can eat during travel but was thinking of turkey jerky.  Not a large amount but sometimes it's a nice snack on a cracker with cheese.  

I guess meat products not ok and what about cheese?

AFAIK there is no restriction on cheese coming into Thailand. Forget about trying to get it past quarantine in Australia.

Actually, you can take any food you want into Australia, provided you are prepared to wait a couple of weeks while it is irradiated with neutrons. Don't blame me if you glow in the dark after eating said food.

[kwilco]

7 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

too healthy food, same as e cigarettes danger for your health, whats is next?? alcohol is already restricted

You've never been to Oz, have you?

[DjSilver]

I don't think anyone is so stupid they would bring fresh fruit, veggies or meat on a trip through customs or similar. Haha

[alex8912]

I bet 90% or more of the fruit was eaten by a Thai person associated with the airport! Especially those Japanese melons ???? 

[alex8912]

10 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Oz bans all fruit.

But it's also a good thing for a country in the middle of nowhere with almost no people ( even 30 million yet?) that is very large and connected to nothing. New Zealand and AUS are unique this way. Japanese fruit won't harm Thailand. I don't understand even ONE post comparing AUS to Thailand in this thread.  They are COMPLETELY different topics. Japan standard are also waaay higher than Thailands. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by alex8912

[digger70]

What about all the fruit that get exported out of Los , Do you really think that that Fruit/Veg is Bug/Poison free . that's why it get tested ,same with meat  when it arrives at the foreign country  and Refused /Returned if not up to that countries standard.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed, this topic is not about Australia's border security. 

[Eloquent pilgrim]

Why bring fruit into Thailand.

 

Coals to Newcastle  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[HuaHinHim]

10 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

she wasn't a tourist mate, she was a local. she should know about Australia's strict biosecurity rules and if she didn't then the questionnaire she completed before arrival should have given her pause to think about what was in her bags. 

 

but some people don't like to learn new things as I found out growing up down under. the only things some people take seriously are the lineup of their footy team and which is faster, a V8 Commy or a V8 Falcon ????

The Falcon of course ???? although these days I’d say the 6 not 8.

[RichardColeman]

I think anyone that brings fresh fruit home with them has such a low IQ that they also believe John Cleese 'how to defend yourself against someone armed with a piece of fresh fruit' is a factual information program !

 

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by RichardColeman

[huangnon]

12 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

 

They may like to consider the tourist fined in July for bringing half a Subway sandwich to Australia - $AU2644, that's $US1844.

Was there a Cane Toad in it?

[hotchilli]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

He said that the plant quarantine checkpoints at the Suvarnabhumi airport have confiscated a lot of fresh fruit being brought back by Thai travellers, many of whom claimed they bought them according to advice offered by their guides

Lol... scams work both ways.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

Oz bans all fruit.

Most countries are wary of fresh fruit and raw meats.

[khunjeff]

3 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Japanese fruit won't harm Thailand. I don't understand even ONE post comparing AUS to Thailand in this thread.  They are COMPLETELY different topics. Japan standard are also waaay higher than Thailands. 

I honestly do wonder whether there are any known agricultural diseases or pests in Korea and Japan that pose a threat to Thai crops, or whether this is just theater - I don't know the answer to that question. 

[MrJ2U]

It would help if they didn't tax imported fruit so much.

 

There's so little variety thats really expensive in bigger cities and virtually nothing in the outlining areas.

 

 

Thailands protectionism hurts everyone. 

[SunsetT]

Not that I'd be bringing in fruit or anything else illegal,, but In 16 years I have never been stopped by customs entering Thailand at Swampy.

[Drop the dead donkey]

18 hours ago, gomangosteen said:

I expect most countries have restrictions on people randomly bringing in fruit, though the Thai penalties are light comparatively, up to one year imprisonment/20000 baht fine.

They may like to consider the tourist fined in July for bringing half a Subway sandwich to Australia - $AU2644, that's $US1844.

I remember once landing in Bangkok, and having a banana confiscated from an emirates flight. I said to them it was likely from the Caribbean. But as a passenger, I was completely oblivious to its origins.

I laughed so much, that they got shirty and angst. It made me laugh even more. 
in fact, I had to sign a waiver for the banana, which made me bend over double - nearly pissing myself laughing.

One of the most funniest customs experiences I have ever had in the world. 
But to top it off he has to be the Land of Smiles.

[Arthur Mullard]

For some reason I had to play Python's fresh fruit sketch..... ????