Rambutan growers in Trat, Thailand’s eastern most province, are facing severe financial distress as prices of their crops continue to plummet, with some varieties selling for as little as 6 baht/Kg.
The crisis has forced many farming families to harvest the fruit themselves to cut down on labour costs, while urgent appeals have been made for government intervention to prop up sagging prices amid soaring production costs.
The situation in Trat remains deeply concerning as a continuous drop in market prices severely reduces farmers' income across multiple districts.
Growers in Ban Ta Long and Ban Ta Ngam villages of Bo Phloi sub-district in Bo Rai district are among the hardest hit, caught in a vice of rising overheads and dwindling returns.
Farm-gate prices recorded on Wednesday showed that the popular Rong Rien (School) rambutan variety was being bought at just 16–17 baht/Kg. Meanwhile, the Si Thong (Golden) variety, another major economic crop for the region, has collapsed to a mere 6–8 baht/Kg.
Faced with this grim reality, local farmers are scrambling to adjust and minimise plantation expenses. To avoid operating at a heavier loss, families are increasingly relying on their own members to harvest the crops instead of hiring outside labour.
Hiring workers adds an extra cost of 3–5 baht/Kg, which would completely erase any potential profit under current market conditions. Consequently, families are taking to the orchards themselves. In some, elderly grandparents can be seen working side by side in the heat to keep their businesses afloat.
Thammanoon Ingchamni, a grower from Ban Ta Long village, said that any price below 20 baht/Kg is completely unsustainable.
"Farmers are carrying a heavy fixed overhead burden, including electricity, fuel, fertiliser and pesticides, all of which have seen continuous price rises," Thammanoon said. "This is in stark contrast to the falling value of our produce. Many of us are now facing severe cash-flow shortages, and we worry about the long-term viability of our orchards if this persists."
Local growers are calling on the government to intervene urgently to stabilise prices. They argue that a fair and reasonable price for rambutan is around 27–28 baht/Kg, a rate that would allow them to cover production costs and provide a basic living for their households.
Meanwhile, local middlemen and buyers explained that they are forced to monitor market prices on a day-to-day basis.
As they must resell the produce to larger fruit packing plants (locally known as ‘lhong’), the farm-gate buying price must be kept roughly 1–2 baht/Kg lower than the packing plant's rate, to account for transport and operational costs.
With rambutan prices still on a downward trajectory and no clear sign of a market recovery, both desperate farmers and wary traders are left monitoring the volatile situation day by day.
