🔄 Updated 21 Jun 2026
Prachuap souvenirs split neatly into two lanes: fruit and seafood. The fruit lane is pineapple, grown widely around Sam Roi Yot and Pran Buri — eat it fresh, or grab some pineapple jam to take home. The seafood lane is dried squid, dried shrimp, salted fish, shrimp paste and fish sauce, all sold at the old markets in Hua Hin and Prachuap town. This guide covers both lanes so you can hit everything in a single trip.
Where to buy Prachuap pineapple
Prachuap Khiri Khan is one of Thailand's top pineapple-growing regions. The variety you'll see most is Pattavia (juicy flesh, easy on the wallet), along with newer types like Yellow Sam Roi Yot and MD2 / Siam Gold, which have firm flesh, a sweet crunch, and an edible core. If you're driving along Phetkasem Road around Sam Roi Yot and Pran Buri, you'll pass roadside fruit stalls and fruit markets the whole way.
Sam Roi Yot Fruit Market
A cluster of fruit stalls along Phetkasem Road in Sam Roi Yot district — the spot road-trippers pull over to grab fresh pineapple at farm-gate prices. Plenty of varieties to choose from, and most stalls peel it for free and help pack it in boxes for the drive home.
Roadside pineapple stalls, Pran Buri–Sam Roi Yot
Small stalls scattered along the highway selling pineapple freshly cut from nearby farms — just a few tens of baht each, and you can haggle if you buy several. Good if you want cheap, fresh fruit along the way.
Siam Gold / MD2 pineapple
A newer variety with golden flesh, a sweet crunch and an edible core, sold at graded stalls and souvenir shops. It keeps longer than Pattavia and makes a better gift since it looks more premium — and it costs a little more than the standard kinds.
How to pick a good pineapple
Smell the bottom of the fruit — a sweet aroma means it's ripe and ready. Press gently; it should feel firm, not soft or caved in. If you're carrying it a long way home, pick one that's still green-tinged yellow so it travels better, then let it ripen the rest of the way at home.
Want to taste deeper? Try a Prachuap Khiri Khan 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.
Pineapple jam — the souvenir that keeps
If you'd rather not haul heavy fresh fruit home, pineapple jam is the answer. Ripe pineapple is cooked down with sugar into a thick, chewy paste with a sweet-tart flavor, and it keeps for a month. Eat it as a snack or use it as a filling — you'll find it at souvenir shops in Hua Hin and Prachuap town.
- Ko Lak — the pineapple jam name people talk about in Hua Hin, chewy and well balanced, starting around ฿65 a box.
- Pineapple-jam pastries (Tepin / local bakeries) — cheesecakes and breads filled with pineapple jam, around ฿40 a piece, easy snacking for the road.
- Loose pineapple jam at the markets — sold by several vendors at Chatchai Market and the night market, weighed by the kilo or in small bags, with samples before you buy.
Dried squid and dried seafood
Processed seafood is the souvenir people carry home most, because it comes straight from real fishing villages. Old markets like Chatchai Market in Hua Hin (open for over 80 years) are packed with shops selling seafood they sort and sun-dry themselves — dried squid, crispy squid, big dried shrimp, fragrant mackerel, and one-day sun-dried salted fish.
Pa Kaew (Chatchai Market)
Naturally sun-dried baby squid with no bleaching agents — sweet, fragrant flesh and a regular stop for many shoppers. Starts around ฿140 a pack, with size and price depending on the grade of squid.
Rungrak Dried Seafood
A dried-seafood shop in Chatchai Market with plenty to choose from — squid, dried shrimp, salted fish — all vacuum-packed and ready to travel. Good if you want to grab several things in one shop.
Yor Yutthachai (one-day sun-dried king mackerel)
Firm-fleshed, one-day sun-dried king mackerel with FDA approval — fragrant when fried, great with rice porridge or hot steamed rice. Starts around ฿140, a salted-fish souvenir that isn't overly salty.
Mae Champi (fragrant mackerel)
Sun-dried fragrant mackerel — soft flesh, well-rounded flavor, ready to fry and eat with chili dip. Starts around ฿99, a small, easy, inexpensive souvenir.
Prachuap town market / Prachuap Bay
Prachuap town itself has dried seafood from the fishing communities of Prachuap Bay and Khlong Wan — usually cheaper than Hua Hin since it's closer to where it's caught. Good if you're heading all the way down to the town or Ao Manao.
How to choose dried squid
Naturally dried squid comes out brownish-pink, not bright white — if it's unnaturally white, watch out for bleaching. It should smell of the sea, not musty or pungent, and the body should be fully dry rather than sticky or oily, so it keeps longer.
Shrimp paste and fish sauce
Shrimp paste and fish sauce are the condiment-lane souvenirs home cooks love to carry back, because they come from the fishing villages around Hua Hin and Khlong Wan where they're fermented by hand — deeper in aroma and flavor than the supermarket stuff. Hua Hin even has old-recipe seasoned shrimp paste to try, while real fish sauce from hand-fermented anchovies turns up at the markets and souvenir shops.
Mae Salee sweet shrimp paste
The original seasoned-shrimp-paste maker at Hua Hin's night market, with both sweet and plain versions — well balanced and great dipped with pineapple or sour mango. Starts around ฿95 a jar.
Mae Taew squid chili paste
Squid and king-mackerel chili pastes, a Hua Hin OTOP product in several heat levels. Starts around ฿225 — a souvenir you can open and eat straight with steamed rice.
Khlong Wan shrimp paste & fish sauce
Straight from the Khlong Wan fishing village in Prachuap town — smooth, fragrant shrimp paste and real hand-fermented fish sauce, found at community shops and the Prachuap town market.
Getting shrimp paste & fish sauce home
Shrimp paste and fish sauce have a strong smell, so ask the shop to pack them in zip-lock bags or tight-lidded jars, then wrap them in another bag so the odor doesn't leak in the car. If you're flying, they have to go in checked luggage — you can't carry them on, since they count as liquids or semi-liquids.
Where it's easiest to shop for souvenirs
- Chatchai Market, Hua Hin — the old market in central Hua Hin, with dried seafood, shrimp paste and dried shrimp all in one place, so you can walk around and compare prices.
- Hua Hin night market — open in the evening and into the night, with seasoned shrimp paste, sweets and snacks, so you can shop for souvenirs and grab dinner at once.
- Sam Roi Yot Fruit Market — the pull-over spot for fresh pineapple at farm-gate prices while driving along Phetkasem Road.
- Prachuap town & Khlong Wan markets — well-priced seafood and shrimp paste & fish sauce straight from the source, good if you make it down to the town.
Plan a full eat-and-explore trip around Prachuap and Hua Hin
See the Prachuap Khiri Khan guide →