A provincial court that sentenced a merchant to 15 days in jail for selling unripe fruit to a customer set a legal precedent for Thailand, reports said yesterday.

Rayong Court on April 22 sentenced orchard owner Vimol Srivichai for selling 20 unripe durians for about 2,000 baht (US$61.50), the Thai Rath newspaper reported.

“The defendant defrauded his customer and in doing so adversely impacted the local economy by undermining people’s good faith in durian sales,” the court said in its verdict.

The client pressed charges after discovering the durians he bought on April 21 were unripe. Police in Rayong province, 150 kilometres south-east of Bangkok, confirmed the deception and brought the case to court.

Rayong, Chanthaburi and Trat provinces on the eastern seaboard are famed for their tropical fruit plantations including durians, mangosteens and rambutans.

The Ministry of Agriculture has sought cooperation from orchard owners and merchants to refrain from selling unripe durians to maintain public confidence in the fruit, which is generally sold covered in its spiky shell.

“This court case sets a good example for other selfish merchants,” Olarn Pitak, director-general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, told the newspaper.

- dpa