Can I only buy it in season?
It is listed as available all year round. However, the varieties and stock on sale differ from stall to stall, so look at whole fruit and prepared fruit separately.
Papaya
Papaya · มะละกอ
If you have had som tam in Thailand, try ripe papaya too. Unlike the green papaya in som tam, ripe flesh is eaten soft and sweet. Cut it in half, scoop out the black seeds and eat the flesh. When you choose cut fruit, you could look for ripe papaya.
Papaya cut half · Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 4.0
Resized for display · Photo used under CC BY-SA 4.0
When is the best time to eat it?
On sale all year
Listed as available all year
Use the main season, or the harvest period for regional fruit, as a guide. Actual availability can vary with the growing area, the variety and the weather.
What does it taste like?
Ripe papaya is a fruit in which you enjoy soft flesh. Unripe papaya is also used as an ingredient in dishes, so the texture differs from eating it as fresh fruit.
Why this fruit is well known in Thailand
It is also a familiar fruit through som tam, the green papaya salad. In Thailand you can learn about both ways of using it: eating ripe fruit and cooking with unripe fruit.
Good to know before you buy
- Thai name
- มะละกอ
- Harvest period
- On sale all year
- How it is sold
- Choose by telling apart ripe papaya to eat straight away as fruit and green papaya to use in cooking. The price unit may also differ between whole fruit and prepared tubs.
How to prepare and eat it
- Wash a ripe papaya and cut it in half.
- Scoop out the black seeds in the middle, peel it and eat the flesh.
- Green and ripe papaya are eaten differently, so choose the one you want to eat straight away.
A guide to prices
Bangkok retail prices · 14 October 2026
These are prices by variety and grade, surveyed by Thailand’s Department of Internal Trade. They do not apply to every stall on the street.
| Fruit and variety | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Papaya · Holland (ฮอลแลนด์) | 40–60 baht | 1 kg |
Keep the price of a bag or tub of cut fruit separate from the per-kilo price of whole fruit. Bananas are priced per bunch in this survey.
Frequently asked questions
How do I compare a per-kilo price with the price of a tub?
Choose by telling apart ripe papaya to eat straight away as fruit and green papaya to use in cooking. The price unit may also differ between whole fruit and prepared tubs.
Keep exploring
Official sources and references
If you would like to read more about the food and the regions behind it, these sources are worth a look. Ingredients and cooking methods can vary from one cook to the next.
Sharing image credit: Maksym Kozlenko · CC BY-SA 4.0