Poisonous “mangoes” and other inedible fruits in Thailand

Some time ago, tourists got poisoned by a fruit, which I want to talk about in this article.

Many fruits are not edible and even poisonous

There are a lot of fruits in the Thai market. Many of them do not grow in the countries from which tourists come. However, some of the tropical fruits can be bought in Western countries, and some fruits I came across only in Thailand.

There are poisonous plants everywhere, but I cannot remember poisonous fruits and berries in colder countries. Except for wild red elderberry. Apparently this is due to the fact that without human care, fruits do not grow in our cold countries, and no one in their right mind will grow trees with inedible, and even more poisonous fruits.

Therefore, if you pick an apple or a pear, a plum, or a cherry from a tree, then you will not have any problems (except with the owner of the garden).

But in tropical countries, fruits grow on their own. Or they can be grown as decoration or for other reasons. The locals know very well what to eat and what not to. And tourists not only do not understand tropical plants, but also do not suspect how dangerous they can be.

Look at this palm tree with yellow and red fruits.

The same zoomed fruits.

A beautiful tree and beautiful fruits or berries! It is used as a decoration – I photographed this tree in the park. The fruits are inedible. Once they were used for chewing and then spit out (such entertainment). They make teeth black.

Another beautiful fruit – similar to tomatoes. Also not edible.

Poisonous “mangoes”

What do you think about when you look at this photo?

It's a mango! And there are so many! For some reason, some are black, but it doesn’t matter – we won’t eat spoiled mangoes.

But this fruit is poisonous! It was they who recently poisoned the tourists. By the way, it has nothing to do with mango. Just a superficial resemblance.

My wife easily distinguishes this fruit from mango, by the leaves of the tree and by other signs that are obvious to her. What about me, I was sure it was a mango!

Do not pick fruits from trees and do not eat them

First, if a tree grows somewhere, then, most likely, this tree, or the land on which it grows, has an owner. If so, then stealing fruit will cause a sharp rejection to you.

Secondly, as you can see from the example of the poisonous “mango”, you can just make a mistake.

That is, if you want fruit, then go to the market – only edible fruits are sold there. Although we must not forget that some fruits require certain skills in order to eat them. For example, mangosteen must be peeled of inedible peel, preferably without crushing the very tender pulp of the fruit and without soiling it in the juice of the peel. Coconuts and durians cannot be opened by an ordinary foreigner without special skills and a knife. Even an ordinary ripe mango requires care in order to peel it.