Leave Durians in Police Care project launched to stop durian thefts
The Ao Cho Police Station in the eastern province of Trat launched a project called Leave Durians in Police Care after farmers in the province lost millions of baht worth of durian fruit and their trees to thieves in the past year.
The Chief Inspector of Ao Cho Police Station, Ariyachai Thima, met with durian farmers on Monday, March 13 to introduce the security project which will protect durian plantations.
Ariyachai revealed that thieves had stolen durians from several plantations, resulting in several million baht’s worth of damage.
Ariyachai explained that the thieves typically commit these crimes after midnight when farmers are sleeping. As most farmers cannot stay up all night to watch their plantations the police came up with the idea to support them.
To help deter these crimes, Ariyachai stated that officers will be patrolling more frequently, from midnight to early morning. The police officers will be divided into two teams, with the first team patrolling from 6pm to midnight, and the second team taking over after midnight until the early morning.
One of the durian farmers, Nattawong, made known that he lost durians worth almost 1 million baht last year. Nattawong believes the thieves are locals because they knew how to harvest the durians.
Unfortunately, the issue of durian theft is not limited to Trat. Recently, the owner of a durian plantation in Nakhon Ratchasima, 48 year old Nattaporn Saiparnwitthaya, revealed to ThaiRath that thieves stole 10 Monthong durian trees that were about one year old from his land.
Nattaporn stated that he could not imagine how the thieves managed to move the durian trees without anyone noticing, as they were over 150 centimetres high. He added that he lost over 30 durian trees within the past two years.
Although durians are known for their pungent odour, they remain a must-try fruit in Thailand. This unique fruit offers a creamy texture that varies based on the species. Thailand has a wide variety of durians, including Monthong, Chanee, Kan Yao, and more.
Due to their strong smell, durians are banned from certain places such as public transportation, airports, and hotels. Aside from the fresh ones, durian sticky rice, durian ice cream, and durian smoothies are also a must.
The project, Leave Durians in Police Care, is believed to be inspired by a police project for house and assets security called, Leave House in Police Care. The project was launched a long time ago after many houses were robbed when the owners were away during a long holiday like new year and Songkran.
