Pattaya visitors can experience the Chanthaburi Fruit Festival - AsiaRooms.com

AsiaRooms.com reports travellers booking hotels in Pattaya later this year may like to head east for the annual Chanthaburi Fruit Festival.

Usually taking place in early May, this popular community event is a major celebration of Thailand's abundant crop of fresh and exotic fruit.

People from all over the country head to the festival, which lasts for several days and is held at the Chanthaburi Sports Stadium.

The nation's eastern provinces are nicknamed "the fruit bowl of Thailand" and foreign travellers will understand why after visiting this event.

As well as offering a mouth-watering selection of rare and unusual fruits such as pomelo, rambutan, mangosteen and longkong, the festival includes competitions, beauty pageants and orchard tours for visitors.

Prizes are handed out for the best-tasting fruit and the most impressive fruit display, with local people decorating floats for a colourful parade at the beginning of the festival.

The durian, known in parts of south-east Asia as 'the king of fruits', is the most popular snack on offer in Chanthaburi at this time of year.

People who have previously used hotels in Thailand may have encountered the durian, which is known for its distinctive odour, green spiky shell and soft, tasty flesh.