Myanmar avocado farmers are facing severe financial hardship after Thailand, their primary export market, suspended all avocado imports, according to local growers and industry officials.

Historically, around 80% of Myanmar’s avocado crop has been exported to Thailand. 

Without alternative markets, domestic prices are expected to plummet, leaving growers with massive surpluses of unsold produce, Kyaw Soe Min, General Secretary of the Myanmar Avocado Producer and Exporter Association (MAVO), told Mizzima on Aug. 30.

Thai authorities have halted avocado imports from Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam as part of an effort to enforce stricter food safety regulations and establish national quality standards.

“They are drafting domestic quality standards and transitioning toward stricter food safety to protect consumers,” Kyaw Soe Min said. “As a result, they have completely shut down imports this year.”

Although Myanmar lacks official formal clearance to export avocados to Thailand, trade has long relied on informal border channels.

“Of course, we are worried,” said an avocado farmer from southern Shan State. “Since the crops we cultivated have suddenly lost their primary market, our financial losses will be substantial.”

According to MAVO data, Myanmar exported over 13,000 tonnes of avocados to Thailand during the 2025 harvest season.

With the 2026–2027 season underway, growers are left with an estimated 20,000 tonnes of avocados that can no longer enter Thailand.

In response, MAVO member companies are seeking alternative export destinations in India, Singapore, Malaysia, and Russia, the association confirmed.

Industry leaders are also pursuing domestic promotion campaigns, expanding value-added product development, seeking export clearance to China, and expediting the Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) required for official trade approval from Thailand, according to MAVO advisory consultant Daw Sandar Myo.