🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
A lot of people have heard that "Nonthaburi durian" can cost tens of thousands of baht but don't know why. The short answer is that it really is rare. The original growing land in Nonthaburi is low-lying clay soil along the Chao Phraya River, which holds water and nutrients well, so the flesh comes out sweet and creamy with thin, easy-to-open husks. But after the major flood of 2011, the orchard area collapsed from thousands of rai down to just a few dozen, many old trees died, and the younger generation of growers moved on to other work. Genuine Nonthaburi durian became a rare item that's mostly sold by pre-order and rarely turns up in ordinary markets.
Native Nonthaburi varieties worth knowing
Nonthaburi originally had dozens of heirloom durian strains, many with names you'll almost never hear elsewhere. Conservation orchards today still keep several of them going. These are the ones you'll come across most often and the ones people hunt for.
Kan Yao
The variety that defines Nonthaburi durian. The stem is long, just as the name ("long stem") suggests, and the flesh is fine and dense, sweet and creamy and well balanced, never mushy. It's the most expensive variety and always the first to be booked out.
Mon Thong
The most widely known variety. Thick pale-yellow flesh, small flat seeds, mild sweetness, and it grows all over the country, but fruit from a Nonthaburi orchard tends to have denser flesh and a different aroma.
Chanee
Deeper yellow-orange flesh, sweeter and creamier than Mon Thong, with a strong aroma. People who like a bold flavor usually go for this one, and it's grown in Nonthaburi orchards too.
The Kob group (Kob Mae Thao, Kob Chai Nam, Kob Phikun)
The Kob family is an old Nonthaburi lineage. The fruit is fairly round, the flesh chewy and firm, with a creamy taste leading into the sweetness. Each strain differs in aroma and sweetness, and conservation orchards keep several of these trees alive.
Yam Mawat
An odd name but an old Nonthaburi variety. The flesh is fine, the flavor a balanced sweet-and-creamy, and the aroma isn't too strong, which makes it a good pick for anyone who wants to try an original taste that isn't overpowering.
Luang
Another native variety with smooth flesh and a sweetness-forward flavor. Older folks in the orchard district still remember it, but few trees remain today, and most of them sit in conservation orchards rather than being sold openly.
Tip
If your goal is genuine Kan Yao from a Nonthaburi orchard, you have to book ahead from the start of the season, because each orchard only produces a few hundred to a thousand fruit a year, and they're usually all reserved before they even ripen.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Nonthaburi 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.
Orchards still open and reachable
The Nonthaburi durian orchards that remain are mostly clustered in Bang Kruai district and Mueang Nonthaburi, on the low-lying canal-side land. Some run as conservation orchards to preserve the old strains, others are working orchards that sell their crop. These are the ones you can realistically go see or order from.
Suan Thurian Non (Bang Khun Kong)
A conservation orchard in Bang Kruai district keeping more than 10 native strains, including Kan Yao, Mon Thong, Chanee, and the Kob group. It sells genuine grafted saplings; contact the orchard through its channels before you go.
Suan Seri Thurian Mueang Non
An orchard of around 50 rai growing several native durian strains. Its most recent crop ran into the thousands of fruit and sold out entirely online, with prices starting from a few hundred up to around a thousand-plus THB per kilo.
Small canal-side orchards (Nonthaburi grower network)
There are still small-scale growers tending just a few trees each, selling through their Facebook pages or by word of mouth. The crop is small and hard to reserve, but you get the real thing from original trees in the orchard district.
Before you go
Many of these orchards aren't set up as walk-in tourist spots. Always contact the orchard's page or phone number first about reservation queues, when the durian ripens, and whether there's anything to buy at all.
Where to buy Nonthaburi durian
Besides ordering straight from the orchards, during durian season the growers also bring their crop out to sell along the canals, mostly at the mouths of the main canals in the old orchard district. The fruit comes in waves as it ripens, so it isn't there every day.
- Bang Kruai canal mouth (near Wat Chalo) — where growers around Bang Kruai bring their durian to sell during the season.
- Bang Khen canal mouth — another gathering point for orchards on the Mueang Nonthaburi side, coming in waves with the crop.
- Bang Rao Nok and Bang Yai canal mouths — selling spots for orchards on the west side, good for asking after native varieties.
- The orchards' own pages/online channels — realistically the main route these days, since most of the crop sells out before it ever reaches a stall.
Check before buying
Not all the durian sold in Nonthaburi is genuine Nonthaburi durian. Plenty of sellers bring fruit in from other provinces and sell it locally. If you're paying Nonthaburi-durian prices, ask for the orchard name, the variety, and where it came from before you commit.
Prices and the durian season
Nonthaburi durian prices depend heavily on the variety and how rare it is. Mon Thong or Chanee from a Nonthaburi orchard usually runs from a few hundred to around a thousand-plus THB per kilo, while genuine Kan Yao can climb to several thousand THB per kilo, and a few special fruit at auction have gone for tens of thousands up to six figures. These are rough numbers that shift every year with the harvest, so check with the orchard round by round.
- Durian season — generally falls around April to June, with the fruit ripening in waves rather than all at once across an orchard.
- Kan Yao — the priciest and rarest, from a thousand to several thousand THB per kilo, and you have to book ahead.
- Nonthaburi Mon Thong/Chanee — a few hundred to a thousand-plus THB per kilo, depending on quality and orchard.
- Special/auction fruit — some individual fruit go for tens of thousands and up; these are one-off cases, not the going rate.
If your budget won't stretch to Kan Yao, don't feel bad about it. Just getting to try Mon Thong or the Kob group from a genuine Nonthaburi orchard is enough to see why durian from this area earned its name — dense flesh, thin husks, and an aroma that really is different from ordinary durian.
Plan a full Nonthaburi trip around the orchards and the riverside
See the Nonthaburi guide →