🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Come to Lamphun in July or August and you'll see longan orchards in full fruit across the whole province, especially around Mueang district, Pa Sang, and Ban Hong. The main variety grown here is E-Daw — thick flesh, small seed, sweet and fragrant. Visit outside the season and there's no need to feel cheated either, because Lamphun is genuinely good at processing longan, from golden dried fruit to baked goods, fruit juice, and ice cream. We've picked the things you can actually buy and the shops that are open right now.
Lamphun longan and its most popular products
Golden dried longan flesh
Lamphun's number-one souvenir — longan that's peeled, deseeded, and dried until the flesh turns clear amber-gold, several times sweeter than fresh longan. It keeps for a long time and is easy to carry on a plane. Good grades won't be coated in heavy sugar or artificially dyed.
Whole dried longan (in the shell)
The traditional style, dried whole with the shell still on. Cheaper than the golden version and great for simmering into longan drink or stewing desserts. Northern Thais like to use it to make hot longan tea to ease a cold.
Fresh longan (E-Daw), in season
July to August is the peak for fresh longan. Buy from roadside stalls or the packing houses around Pa Sang and Ban Hong for far cheaper than in town. Big AA-grade fruit over 27mm across, sold in pretty clusters, makes a good gift.
Pressed / concentrated longan juice
Made by simmering dried longan until you get a golden-brown liquid, naturally sweet. It comes both as ready-to-drink bottles and as a concentrate you mix yourself; some makers even do a longan powder. Served cold, it's refreshing.
Homemade longan ice cream
You'll find it around Wat Phra That Hariphunchai and the cafes in the old town. Soft and genuinely fragrant with longan, and some shops fold real longan flesh into it. Perfect to cool off with after paying respects at the temple and walking around.
Longan cake / longan cookies
Soft cake stuffed with whole bites of dried longan, not overly sweet — a contemporary, nicely packaged gift that suits older relatives. KHUMJUN and the Ban Huai Kan bakery group do this well and are a 5-star OTOP product.
Longan paste / longan jelly
Longan paste is chewy, sweet and fragrant, easy to snack on, while longan jelly is a cool dessert made from longan flesh set in clear jelly. Both are found at souvenir shops and community markets.
Chocolate-coated dried longan / longan rock sugar
A newer kind of product — small pieces of golden longan coated in dark chocolate to cut the sweetness, or turned into longan rock sugar to have with tea. It's an unusual gift that gets people asking where you found it, since it's hard to get elsewhere.
How to pick good dried longan
Look at the flesh — it should be clear amber-gold, not dark and dull, the surface not so sugar-glazed that it sticks to your fingers, and it should smell of longan rather than a sharp sulfur odor. Export-grade product usually carries a clear FDA mark and OTOP seal. You can taste before buying at almost every shop, so don't be shy about it.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Lamphun food tour or cooking class
Half a day with a local who knows the lanes — or cooking a dish yourself — teaches you more than just eating. Book ahead on Klook or GetYourGuide.
Where to buy longan gifts
If you're short on time and want everything in one place, the area around Wat Phra That Hariphunchai is the easiest. There's a row of souvenir shops across from the temple plus the provincial OTOP center, so you can buy right after paying your respects. But if you want better prices and fresher fruit, you'll need to drive out toward Pa Sang or Ban Hong.
Souvenir shops in front of Wat Phra That Hariphunchai
The strip of souvenir shops and the OTOP center across from the temple has dried longan, longan juice, and longan cake and cookies from several makers. You can taste samples, prices are middle-of-the-road, and it's the most convenient option for in-town visitors.
Mae Kiang Pha Lamphun Souvenirs
A long-running souvenir shop across from Wat Phra That, with dried longan as the star. It has run a 3-bags-for-100-baht dried longan deal before, and stocks a wide, easy-to-shop range.
Longan Toong Tong (ToongTong)
Lamphun's 5-star OTOP golden dried longan brand, focused on export-quality golden flesh. You can order in-store or online — a good pick if you want a quality boxed gift.
KHUMJUN longan bakery
The maker of nicely packaged longan cake and longan cookies, produced in Lamphun. A good contemporary gift for older relatives or the office.
Packing houses / longan orchards in Pa Sang & Ban Hong
In season (Jul–Aug) you can buy fresh longan at the source for clearly less than in town. Some orchards let you go in and pick your own clusters — worth it if you have a car and come at the right time.
Community / morning markets in town
Morning and community markets have longan paste, longan jelly, and freshly made longan juice at local prices — better for snacking on the go than carrying far.
What to know about the season
Fresh longan is really only around from July to August. Some years the price crashes hard from oversupply (it's dropped below 10–13 baht a kilo at the packing house before). Come in this window and you'll get it cheap and fresh — but if you arrive off-season, processed products like dried longan and longan juice are sold all year, so don't worry.
How to pack it home so nothing spoils
- Fresh longan — doesn't keep long; eat it within 2–3 days. If you're carrying it far, keep it chilled and choose clusters whose shells are still firm, not soft.
- Golden dried longan — keeps for months. Put it in a zip bag with the air pressed out, away from moisture; it lasts even better in the fridge, and is easy to carry on a plane.
- Bottled longan juice — check the expiry date; the pasteurized kind needs to stay cold, while the concentrate/powder is easier to store and better as a gift for far-off destinations.
- Longan cake/cookies — longan-filled cake only lasts a few days, cookies keep longer. If you're sending it to another province, go for cookies or a box with a longer expiry date.
Plan a full day in Lamphun — temples, good eats, and gifts to take home
See the Lamphun travel guide →