Ban Nong Chang Khuen

Lamyai (longan) and Lamphun have long gone together, and Ban Nong Chang Khuen is the province’s largest longan-growing area. Drive through in season, roughly July to August, and the fruit is piled at almost every house along the road, with roadside stalls selling it fresh, dried, and as honey. It’s free to visit — there’s no gate, just orchards either side of the road — about 8 km before Lamphun city on Highway 106.

What You’ll See

Longan is grown across six villages in this stretch of Mueang Lamphun district, and the low, irrigated, sandy-soil terrain here is well suited to it — the same conditions that made Lamphun the country’s original commercial longan-producing area. Outside harvest season, it’s a quiet farming drive past orchard after orchard. In season, that changes: fruit stacked in crates by the roadside, families out picking, and stalls selling straight off the tree at prices well under what you’d pay in a Lamphun or Chiang Mai market.

Timing It Right

The harvest window is short and weather-dependent, so July and August are the reliable bet, tapering off by September. Each August, Mueang Lamphun hosts the province’s Lamyai Festival — a longan parade, best-longan competition, and Miss Lamyai contest — timed to coincide with the harvest this village helps produce. The festival itself runs in town, not out here, but it’s worth checking the dates if you’re planning the drive-through, since Lamphun gets noticeably busier that week.

Practical

There’s no single stop or ticket office — this is a driving or motorbike route rather than a destination with an entrance. Highway 106 (the Chiang Mai-Lamphun road) to Ban Pa Hew, then a signposted turn and about 7 km further in, gets you into the heart of the growing area.

Insider Tip: Buy from a stall with fruit still on the branch rather than pre-bagged — growers selling straight off their own trees tend to have the freshest pick of the day, and prices are negotiable in small amounts.

Watch out: Outside July-August there’s genuinely little to see — bare orchards and quiet roads. This is a harvest-season attraction; visiting in, say, February will be a wasted detour.

For more of the province, the Lamphun hub covers the temples and museums that pair well with a harvest-season day trip, including Wat Phra That Hariphunchai and the Hariphunchai National Museum.