Vegetable Prices Drop as Supply Rises for Vegetarian Festival

Heavy rain and flooding have cut vegetable supplies and delayed transport, driving prices higher. Interior Trade Department Director-General Wattanachak Suea-iam said that heavy rain and flooding in major growing areas in the central, western and northeastern regions have damaged farmland, reducing the volume of vegetables reaching markets. Areas not flooded but with continuous rain have also suffered quality losses and partial damage to crops, especially leafy vegetables. Longer transport times further affect product quality and contribute to higher prices for some items.

To ease the impact, the Interior Trade Department is coordinating with producers to channel produce to major wholesale markets such as Si Mueang Market, Thai Market, Sri Mueang Market and Lan Mueang Market, increasing market supply to meet public demand. Monitoring at Si Mueang Market, a key vegetable distribution center, shows wholesale prices for some items are starting to decline after recent rises. For example, green cabbage fell from a high of 12 baht per kilogram to 8 baht/kg, green jinda chili from 70 to 42 baht/kg, red jinda chili from 50 to 40 baht/kg, white cabbage (luuy) from 18 to 17 baht/kg, and basil from 170 to 150 baht/kg. This reflects growing vegetable inflows and easing price pressure.

Some vegetables, especially leafy greens and tender stalks such as spring onions and holy basil, have also seen prices drop from their peaks — spring onions from 150 to 130 baht/kg and holy basil from 150 to 120 baht/kg — but require close monitoring. Chinese water spinach is steady at 100 baht/kg and Thai water spinach at 32 baht/kg since October 3–4, while Chinese white cabbage (luuy chin) holds at 13 baht/kg. Meanwhile, mangosteen leaf shows an upward trend, now at 140 baht/kg due to heavy rain in its main production area cutting output.

The Interior Trade Department is closely tracking flood‑affected production zones and will coordinate with government and private agencies to resolve any obstacles that hinder moving produce to market, especially as the vegetarian festival approaches and demand for vegetables rises.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Supajee Suthamphon has ordered the Interior Trade Department and provincial commerce offices to monitor the situation closely and take swift action. The department will strengthen links between vegetable producers and market systems, check price tagging to ensure fair trading, prevent opportunistic price hikes, and verify scales to avoid short‑weighting, while coordinating with state and private partners to fix problems quickly.

Regarding the 2026 vegetarian festival, the Interior Trade Department is preparing the “Thai Helps Thai: Full Merit, Full Value Vegetarian Festival 2026” event from October 9 to 18 under the theme “Full Merit, Full Value,” in cooperation with