Supachai explained the launch of a Live Commerce campaign to sell durians early, aiming to avoid the market glut expected in May. Several measures are planned to promote Thai fruits in international markets, targeting fruit exports this year to increase by 5% over last year to 179 billion baht in value.
On 29 April 2026, Supachai Suthamphan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, revealed that placing Thai durians on Live Commerce platforms recently aligns with the Ministry of Commerce’s strategy to create demand in advance before the durian harvest floods the market. This approach enables systematic and continuous distribution management. From 10 May onward, durian production in the Eastern region will gradually increase in volume, continuing through June, alongside other seasonal fruits entering the market. This proactive management measure aims to pre-distribute produce, reduce risks of concentrated supply, and help stabilize prices, which is preferable to waiting for oversupply to occur before responding.
Besides domestic measures, the Ministry of Commerce is also actively pushing all types of Thai fruit into global markets continuously.
Statistics for 2025 show Thailand exported 2,080,049 tons of fresh fruit, valued at 171.2 billion baht, a 1.1% increase from the previous year. The top three export markets were China (88.1%), Malaysia (2.2%), and Indonesia (2.1%).
In the first quarter of this year (January–March), fresh fruit exports totaled 305,673 tons worth 22.3 billion baht, up 56.2%. Fresh durian exports reached 101,773 tons valued at 14.2 billion baht, an increase of 181%.
The Ministry of Commerce plans to penetrate foreign markets more deeply, which will accelerate the distribution of domestic fruit production and benefit Thai farmers. Key measures implemented this year include:
1) Business matching for fresh fruit, processed products, and agricultural goods on 5 March 2026, enabling pre-harvest sales. The event connected 101 exporters with 90 importers from 18 countries, generating trade negotiations worth 3.12 billion baht.
2) A delegation of senior executives visited Hanoi and Lang Son Province in Vietnam, as well as Chongzuo City and Nanning City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, from 23 to 25 April 2026 to prepare facilitation and resolve potential issues in advance.
For the 2026 fruit season, transportation and distribution through northern Vietnam’s border checkpoints to southern China have been streamlined for quick and smooth movement.
Upcoming promotional activities organized by the Ministry of Commerce this year include both online and offline sales events domestically and internationally, such as:
1) Thaifex-Anuga Asia 2026, Southeast Asia’s largest food exhibition, scheduled for 26–30 May at IMPACT Exhibition Center, Muang Thong Thani, with 3,300 exhibitors and over 140,000 participants worldwide.
2) Fruit promotion events in seven major Chinese cities as part of the Thai Tropical Fruits Golden Months project: Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanning, Chengdu, Qingdao, Guangzhou, and Kunming.
3) In 2026, the Ministry has expanded the Thai Tropical Fruits Golden Months campaign to western China, a new market for Thai fruits, targeting three cities: Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; Yuxi in Yunnan Province; and Urumqi in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, plus eight secondary cities:
1. Nanchang, Jiangxi Province,
2. Baise and 3. Liuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,
4. Changsha, Hunan Province,
5. Shantou, Guangdong Province,
6. Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province,
7. Zhengzhou, Henan Province,
8. Dalian, Liaoning Province.
4) Fruit promotion activities jointly organized with department stores in South Korea, India, and the United Arab Emirates.
5) Online sales of fresh and processed fruits through partner platforms worldwide under Thaitrade.com and TOPTHAI brands, including Amazon (US), Tmall (China), PUPU (China), Rakuten (Japan), Letstango (UAE), HKTVmall (Hong Kong), and Bigbasket (India).
With these measures and activities, the Ministry of Commerce aims to increase Thai fruit exports by 5% over last year, reaching a total export value of 179 billion baht.