Weaker Chinese demand and growing competition from Vietnam and Malaysia threaten one of Thailand’s most valuable agricultural exports
2-MIN READ2-MINBloombergPublished: 2:38pm, 29 Apr 2026Thailand is turning to live-streamers to clear a looming durian glut, slashing prices as weaker Chinese demand threatens its biggest export market.Top online seller Pimradaporn Benjawattanapat, or Pimrypie, led a high-energy live stream on Tuesday night, pitching to her combined 31 million TikTok and Facebook followers.
Known for selling everything from her own-brand fish sauce to luxury perfumes, Pimrypie priced premium Monthong at as low as 100 baht (US$3) per fruit, well below typical market levels. Some “jumbo” pieces went for 480 baht, compared with 700-800 baht for similar-sized durians under normal conditions.
“I urge Thai people to help preserve the only remaining heart of the nation, a fruit that still generates income: durian,” she said at the beginning of the four-hour live stream, which garnered 700,000 viewers across the platforms at a peak. “Durian is our pride. Let’s not let that pride perish in the orchards.”
Almost 8 million people viewed Pimrypie’s live stream on Facebook alone, generating nearly 2 million real-time order comments. She was selling at a loss after buying up produce from farms in Chanthaburi, the world’s durian capital known for the creamy Monthong variety, she said during the live stream. Pimrypie did not immediately disclose the volume of sales across all platforms.
Her live stream is part of a stepped-up Thai government push to use live commerce to head off a build-up in supply at home. Thailand has about 850,000 video-commerce sellers driving 1.3 billion transactions, with growth outpacing the rest of Southeast Asia, according to a 2025 report by Google, Temasek Holdings and Bain & Company.
