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Thailand Tour

Overview  | Tour Style | Terms and Cancellations

2018 Dates: May 15 – 24 and May 29 – June 7
Duration: 10 days, 9 nights
Start/Finish City: Bangkok
Group size: 5-8 durian lovers
Price: $1850 USD
Single Room Supplement: Add $450 to cost to have your own room every night
Price is all inclusive of all durian, all fruit, accommodations, activities, transport and meals. 
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Thailand Tour Gallery

Can you handle 10 days on the durian trail? 

This is Thailand at it’s yummiest. We think.

We target the orchards and quiet, rural areas where we can taste between 20 and 30 of Thailand’s old, forgotten durian varieties as well as the huge abundance of other exotic fruits that grow in Thailand. Imagine yourself sharing durian with an elephant, or bicycling through mangosteen orchards, waiting for durians to fall around a waterfall, or picking up a cempedak or mafai to taste for the first time at a local morning market.

Our group is limited to only 8 people.

Pre-requisite of travel: You must not dislike durian odor.

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Monthong
Durians of Thailand Gallery

Why Durian in Thailand?

If you’re wondering “Why durian?” you’re obviously new to this website and durian-loving community. Welcome!

Durian is our favorite fruit here, and it might be THE ONLY reason you’re coming to visit Southeast Asia.  Being pulled here by Durian Allure is pretty common.

Thailand produces the most durian of anywhere in the world. There are more durian varieties here than anywhere else in the world, more than 200 of them (here’s the list). But a lot of these varieties are being forgotten, or are extremely hard to find thanks to commercialism and well-developed durian industry for export.

That’s where we come in. This tour is all about helping you taste the biggest diversity of Thailand’s forgotten durian varieties while enjoying the off-the-beaten path of rural Thailand with me (your durian sommelier, fruit nerd and Type A organizer) and Parisa (your Thailand expert, translator and foodie).

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Fruit-cempedak-Gallery
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What’s Included

Meals

  • All you can eat durian, every day.
  • All you can eat mangosteens, rambutans,
  • The best in authentic Thai vegetarian cuisine. Our translator, Parisa, is a vegan foodie.
  • All breakfasts, All lunches, 7 dinners, 10 Durian Buffets

Accommodations
9 nights in comfortable, western-style hotels

Activities
  • All Durian Farm Tours and Buffets
  • All Transportation to/from included activities
  • Bicycling in Rayong
  • Durian Factory Tour
  • Bathing and Feeding Elephants
  • Visit to Khlong Nonsi Waterfall
  • Fruit Buffet at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel
  • 1 Massage

Transportation
Transfer to the meet-up location, private group van, ferry, and public transit

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Where We Go

This mission to let you taste as many durian types as possible will take us to 5 key durian producing areas for a delectable, educational, and unconventional adventure.

Please book your flights to Bangkok. We will arrange a pick up at the airport of your choice (either Sukharnabhumi or Don Mueang) and transfer you to our meet-up location. A summary of destinations is below, or you can view the Full Itinerary.

Thailand Durian Tour

Sample Itinerary Overview 

Sawadee! You are welcome to arrive at any time on Day 1, but please note that the hotel only permits check-in after 2:00 pm.

Note: Itinerary is subject to change in the event of bad weather or whatever we need to do to make this tour crazy awesome, tasty, and enjoyable for you.

Day 1: Arriving to Bangkok
Your hotel for the night before the tour starts is included for everybody’s convenience. Those who arrive by dinner time are welcome to join me and Parisa in our room for some delicious vegan hors d’oeuvres and snacks as well enjoy the sunset over Bangkok from the city’s tallest building.
Meals included: hors d’oeuvres and snacks | Fruit 

Day 2: Bangkok’s Historic Durian Orchards
After breakfast fruit buffet and orientation, we’ll hit Bangkok’s famed canals for our boat ride into historic Thonburi and Nonthaburi, where the durian story started in Thailand. After lunch we’ll go on our first fruit farm tour, then our first durian degustation of the trip, then return early to the hotel to rest and relax at our hotel along the waterfront.

Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Durian

Day 3: Heirloom Durian Varieties
In the 1940’s, a flood destroyed much of Bangkok’s last durian orchards. As the water receded, one man moved his collection of old heirloom durian varieties north to Nakhon Nayok. Today his son manages the orchard,  a quirky, 100% organic permaculture durian orchard with more than 50 heirloom varieties that is a frequent site of research for horticultural students
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch |  Dinner | Durian

Day 4: Thailand’s Agrotourism Theme Parks
Heading south into the main commercial durian-growing regions, our first stop will be Supattraland Farm, a fun Thai-style agricultural park with an unlimited fruit buffet. In the late afternoon we’ll check into our beach side hotel.
Meals included:  Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Durian

Day 5: Cycling Durian Country
Venturing into the countryside on bicycles, we’ll visit two durian farms and enjoy a Thai-style lunch. After the ride, we’ll spend the evening at either a large local market or the Rayong Durian Festival (dates for the festival have not yet been released).
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Durian

Day 6: 100 Varieties of Durian
Looking for diversity, we’ll head to a durian buffet that offers over 100 heirloom varieties and many other fruits. In the afternoon we’ll travel to the island of Koh Chang and settle into our quiet beachside resort on the east side.
Meals included: Breakfast | Dinner | Durian

Day 7: Elephants, Old Tree Chanee, Waterfalls
After sharing durian with elephants, we’ll hit up an old farm with 50+ year old trees and cool off in the nearby waterfall. In the late afternoon you can explore the beach on kayaks or paddleboards or just snooze in the sand while gentle waves lap at your toes.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch| Dinner |Durian

Day 8: Puangmanee Tasting and Durian Dinner
Traveling to Chanthaburi, we’ll go to my friend’s orchard on a river island where a banquet of Puangmanee durians will be waiting for us. For dinner we’ll head to a restaurant that serves durian curries and durian salad.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Durian

Day 9: Durian Factory  and 100-year-old trees
Ever wondered where the durian you buy back home came from? Today we’ll find out by touring a factory that freezes durian to export all over the world as well as making freeze-dried durian. We’ll also explore the Chanthaburi Horticultural Research Center, and when we’re good and hungry spend the afternoon at an 8th generation farm with durian and mangosteen trees over 100 years old.
Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Durian

Day 10: Last Old-Tree, Tree-Ripened Thai Durian All-You-Can-Eat-Buffet
It’s your last day, so let’s pig out at one of my favorite durian orchards in Chanthaburi, an old farm with a good collection of heirloom varieties we won’t have yet experienced on this tour.

What Durian Lovers Think 

I came on Lindsay’s Thailand tour last year and loved it! Obviously there was tons and tons of durian but Lindsay made sure we only ate high quality durian. Not the piles and piles of “regular” durians in the streets. Besides all the delicious eating of durian we had TONS of other fruits all day every day. I probably ate 500 mangosteen personally over the 10 day trip. We rode bikes and did tons of fun sight seeing activities as well. I loved the trip and will be coming back again this year! — Jeff Sorenson, 2016 tour

 

Last summer my husband and I went to Malaysia for a durian tour. It was a great experience, we went to many areas far off the tourist track, met durian farmers and researchers, and ate tens of different types of durians, many of which we picked ourselves. As… much… durian… as… you… want. Does that sounds like almost heaven to you?Our tour leader, Lindsay, told me that durian people were the best, and I would have to agree. I’ve never been on a group tour with such a great bunch of people.

This summer we are planning on going on Lindsay’s Thailand durian tour.

Besides durian, we gorged ourselves on mangosteens, cempedak, jackfruit, lychees, longans, and so much other stuff whose names I don’t even remember now. Most of which we just picked ourselves.

Well, I am working myself into a durian frenzy here, which can’t be satisfied by any of the anemic Monthong durian picked under-ripe and shipped over here. If you love durian you owe it to yourself to go to the source and tour with a durian expert. —- Liz, 2015 Malaysian Durian Appreciation Tour

 

Thailand Durian Tour

Who We Are

I’m Lindsay, the author of this durian-obsessed site and the organizational force behind this tour. I use my experience of four years of durian hunting to take you to my favorite durian farms and experiences in Thailand.

Parisa is my good friend and partner in durian crime, an excellent vegan cook and a native Thai who will help us communicate with farmers and durian sellers as well as teaching us about Thai culture and delicious vegetarian cuisine.
Send me an email if you have any questions! You can reach me at [email protected]

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