London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Thai mango sticky rice sales surge after sweet treat’s Coachella cameo

Government seeks to capitalise on trend after rapper Milli eats dish on stage at US music festival
Bangkok’s famous Mae Varee mango sticky rice shop has barely kept up with demand over recent days. At one point, so many delivery drivers had lined up outside to collect orders that the police arrived, concerned that their bikes were blocking the traffic.

“Yesterday we needed to close the delivery orders from time to time because we couldn’t prepare [the rice] in time,” said Naparom Suntiparadorn, whose family own the shop. On Sunday, delivery orders were six or seven times higher than usual.

The frenzy came after the 19-year-old rapper Milli became the first Thai to perform solo at Coachella festival in California, and marked the occasion by eating the sweet treat on stage.

Her performance, including the way she mocked cliched stereotypes of Thailand (“I don’t ride an elephant”) and the Thai government, was applauded by many young Thais. “The country is good, people are good, our food is good but the government is bood [rotten],” she said.

Across Thailand, demand for mango sticky rice, one of the country’s best known desserts, has since rocketed. One popular food delivery app told Thai media that orders more than tripled in the 24 hours after Milli’s performance. Social media have been filled with images of the dessert: one meme replaced Bangkok’s Democracy Monument with an enormous mound of sticky rice, shielded by four slices of mango.

The government has sought to capitalise on the trend, despite Milli’s strong criticism of its leadership. The prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said the culture ministry may propose recognition of mango sticky rice – khao nieo mamuang, in Thai – as an item of Thai cultural heritage through Unesco.

“It’s important for Thailand to use its soft power abroad. We have plenty of resources that can be promoted on the international stage,” Prayuth said, according to the Bangkok Post.

For shops that sell the dessert, however, the buzz is a welcome relief. Before the pandemic, most of Mae Varee’s customers were tourists, Naparom said, but it has been relying on local customers as the travel sector is yet to recover.

She said the shop used the best ingredients from all over the country. “The rice needs to be in perfect shape, with no cracking. We clean it well and steam it. The coconut is from Surat Thani province. We simmer it. It tastes sweet, but not too sweet, and aromatic. Our mango is also aromatic. It has a natural sweetness. Our signature is we sprinkle crispy mung beans on top.”

Naparom would welcome Unesco recognition. “I guess it’s like a Thai massage in that you need to come here to Thailand to experience it,” she said. “It won’t taste the same if you eat it anywhere else.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×