First of all, **the suicide tree** aka pong-pong is real and well-known in Thailand as a source of deadly poison. Despite this, the tree is commonly used to decorate streets and parks, so placing a pong-pong in a garden of the White Lotus resort was completely realistic.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23tbkgD2rGePgVHfxomCJ4xZicjmTKjggYN45yYGqdY1cFignTab62LD195LzkNs2K9Am.jpg" alt="" />

*Timothy Ratliff examines a pong-pong fruit in The White Lotus Season 3 – HBO*

It was **the fruits themselves** that were faked in this popular series.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/241tdDFx7CQ1kTLk6ZK3E3v5ZtFYTnaBe4vkyzNgr9z3hS1sESAni6XpsqScewVUAjnPJ.JPG" alt="DSC_3086.JPG" />

To get illustrations for this post, I went out to find a pong-pong tree in Songkhla, Thailand. It wasn't a difficult mission - plenty of them in each Thai city.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23w2kuncsTrhTH1okoxRNpsedAvy5oKB9NWKHhWLexc6L1RHVigvakwdtmth4jem9fzUK.JPG" alt="DSC_3089.JPG" />

*The author holds the pong-pong fruit*

HBO didn't alter the color and texture of the fruit's skin.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/242DGc3Uydh3KaFLfhXKcMbrkJm9kxUyKAFcJTjEqzc2B9R2bmETc9km9drTB1QMSb4ps.JPG" alt="DSC_3077.JPG" />

Only peduncle is slightly different:

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23tvY8GvB8bLCjbiRqngCKvM9XwhSQ7u6nEzXTLLmC8w4FsPDT1PNN6XpSrAgFbLBZkhU.jpg" alt="" />

*Pong-pong fruit - HBO*

Short, thick, and dark greenish brown peduncle.

From this moment, a gap begins to emerge between life and the reality of the TV series.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23tGe9XkJYH64GAwJwVRPXwsbsMLhWEQcyid53A1zcYYRCBHmLCUxmn25M9yGbUqN9PSc.jpg" />

*Ratliff tears a pong-pong fruit with the peduncle - HBO*

But the next second, the peduncle disappears, and the skin becomes yellowish:

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23u5tVyXqA3rmk6yDyCZ4RYv9TvZe6NyJrfZ1pJrkvLih8r4iy2Dq2NiwTymyPFGVzLgm.jpg" />

*Ratliff examines the fruit's flesh - HBO*

And that's where the main fake appears - the pong-pong flesh:

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23u5tHZRB2QNJymJQXKWt5M7u5tkWm23c7JRry8jhKr6D4PUMfxxtPB3UKhYgPVnxcrwE.jpg" />

*Ratliff takes out kernels from the pong-pong - HBO*

What are these particles on the fingers - do they mean the pong-pong fruit is a sort of fig?..

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23tm9B1wWT6MGigkJQd3vwRZNfz4JWUWEDj9FQezNDMXZwkB5Vy2hJSdvsLZyD4kZvqxL.jpg" />

*Ratliff holds the poisonous pong-pong kernels - HBO*

And this is actually what's inside the pong-pong fruit:

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23vhuD33J3TTeaDUEjgW9UUPoa68312KBLsuu5eKN6MZ9SuM36C4hVrNBjfp7hbgs6XKW.JPG" alt="DSC_3090.JPG" />

It's easy to peel the skin (a piece of it is lying on the asphalt), but the fruit isn't fleshy. Instead of flesh, it contains a giant seed right below the skin - poisonous kernels are inside this fibrous wooden ball. In other words, the pong-pong fruit is actually a giant seed covered with green skin.

I  tried to smash it with my foot (that's why the dirt is on the top of the seed) — but the seed remained unbroken.

If you want to take the kernels out of the pong-pong, you have to work hard with a machete.

<center><img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/48HfuzqHa9hbUp5mW26srLCuLHcWchGBFG3XeDvLhsPvbanEivZ7oZkXU3W92UqgZd.jpg" alt="" /></center><center>*Pong-pong seeds are <a href="https://www.thaiornamentalplants.com/pong-pong-seeds/">popular decoration</a> in Thailand*</center>

And that's the reason why pong-pong fruits are wooden:

Some fruits are sweet and juicy because evolution has made them appealing to birds and mammals, turning them into seed carriers - the seeds travel in the animals' digestive systems. Pong-pong seeds however travel differently: they are hard and fibrous, making them ideal for long, safe journeys down rivers and across seas.

<img src="https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/x-rain/23xepKUfcEQytckjhgiFUPWDzE7QDDvzWeUne2Z8HZ2fhowA2bEDxR85EosqbUzQWpwiG.JPG" alt="DSC_3081.JPG" />

*All photos were taken with a Nikkor 24mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 by the author in April 2025, in Songkhla, Thailand. The rest of the illustrations are screenshots from the HBO series The White Lotus.*