Where can I buy cheaper durians and coconuts?

[Grienders2]

I found the coconuts for 30-35 baht, which is 2 times more expensive than in Samui. Is it the normal price here? I drink a few ones per day thus that price is expensive.

The same goes for durians - 90-100 baht per kilo, the price should be around 60 I believe.

Where can I find the cheaper ones?

Edited July 5, 2015 by Grienders2

[daoyai]

guessing the cheapest coconuts would be at the big warehouse type market on the road where the U.S. consulate is located same side as consulate but west of there maybe 100 meters, have seen piles of green nuts for sale there...durian, maybe Muang Mai market on the other side of the road.

[Ulysses G.]

Coconuts have gone up a lot the last few years. I used to drink one daily, but have stopped. Durian is at the cheapest price of the year right now and they taste the best too, but I never pay attention to the kilo price, so no sure about that.

I think that daoyai is right about Muang Mai markets. I have been told that the non-refrigerated coconuts are cheaper than other markets.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Ulysses G.

[Konini]

On the street that runs parallel to the river at behind Muang Mai (past the temple) they sell coconuts by the sackful for the price of 2 or 3 individual ones, and there's a lady inside the market just up a couple of meters from the fish stalls who splits them and sells bags of coconut water, not sure how much or what she does with the meat.

Durian definitely on the riverfront amost opposite the big mango shed, but they get a lot of Chinese tourist groups passing and seem to ask silly prices for a lot of things.

[cooked]

We were paying ฿40/Kg for Durian last year, not seen under ฿60 this year. In Big \C Saphon Kwai Bangkok they were going for ฿160/Kg.

[elektrified]

Coconut prices have been on the rise for years now ever since there was a fungus or something that wiped out the crops up here and the coconut tress in Samui were infested with rhinoceros beetles which wiped them out, so all coconuts had to be trucked in from Songhkla, Pattani, etc. Prices never went back down. Even in Koh Kood which has endless amounts of coconut trees, prices are the same there as they are here.

In 2012 the coconut hispine beetle with its minuscule size belies its ability in numbers to put the wheels of an entire industry to a screeching halt. Appearing in the midst of a two-year drought, this beetle managed to decimate 35 percent of the coconut plantations in the southern peninsular province of Prachup Khiri Khan– by far the country’s largest coconut producer and famously known as the “coconut basket” of Thailand.

Durian I don't like and never buy but prices are set by the government I believe.

Edited July 5, 2015 by elektrified

[Lara Alex]

If you live in Chiang Mai and know how to get to TCDC Learning center, there's a shop in front of TCDC (different side of the road) that sells only 'coconuts.'I paid only 15 b. for a fresh coconut!!!! back in 2014. i'm not sure about the prize now but think it should not be that expensive.

#coconutlover

[Grienders2]

Coconut prices have been on the rise for years now ever since there was a fungus or something that wiped out the crops up here and the coconut tress in Samui were infested with rhinoceros beetles which wiped them out, so all coconuts had to be trucked in from Songhkla, Pattani, etc. Prices never went back down. Even in Koh Kood which has endless amounts of coconut trees, prices are the same there as they are here.

In Samui, as I said before, the price are the same as it was over 1 year ago - 18 bant each for 10 coconuts.

[Ulysses G.]

I suspect that one could get a much better price here for 10 coconuts at the market that have not been chilled. There is a place that sells them in larger quantities at the big market near the US Consulate, but I like the cold ones.

[Konini]

I suspect that one could get a much better price here for 10 coconuts at the market that have not been chilled. There is a place that sells them in larger quantities at the big market near the US Consulate, but I like the cold ones.

Agree that 18 baht each for more than 2 or 3 is very expensive.

I think the sacks that they sell hold about 20, maybe 25. No good for most people, but if you're going through as many as OP is it would be worth buying one as it would maybe last a week. If you can't find the shops, find the Bangkok Bank and the temple, they're on the same side of the road and just a little bit down from them.

Finding someone to buy from regularly would probably get you a better deal, possibly could ask them to do a deal on delivery as well as it would be a nuisance unless you had access to a car as you'd have to pay for your transport there and back - too big to manage on a bicycle, possible at a stretch but I definitely wouldn't recommended for a motorbike. Also, bear in mind that these shops are wholesale not retail. The traders there are very fair, the only times I have got the feeling that I'm paying 'special price' is on a couple of the fruit stalls opposite the big mango shed on the river (where tour buses drop off Chinese tourists and ready to nibble on 'exotic' food is overpriced).

[Greenside]

My wife has been told that the Durians are getting more expensive due to demand from the Chinese market and that the trend is likely to continue. Not sure if they grow them up there, but I guess if they do they don't produce enough.

[elektrified]

I suspect that one could get a much better price here for 10 coconuts at the market that have not been chilled. There is a place that sells them in larger quantities at the big market near the US Consulate, but I like the cold ones.

Agree that 18 baht each for more than 2 or 3 is very expensive.

I think the sacks that they sell hold about 20, maybe 25. No good for most people, but if you're going through as many as OP is it would be worth buying one as it would maybe last a week. If you can't find the shops, find the Bangkok Bank and the temple, they're on the same side of the road and just a little bit down from them.

They won't last a week. They go 'off' fairly quickly.

[elektrified]

My wife has been told that the Durians are getting more expensive due to demand from the Chinese market and that the trend is likely to continue. Not sure if they grow them up there, but I guess if they do they don't produce enough.

That's exactly what's going on.

[Konini]

They won't last a week. They go 'off' fairly quickly.

I didn't know that - the odd times I've bought them I've put the liquid into a jug in the fridge.

Good to know for the future, thanks.