Prickly coated papaya seeds?

[artichoke]

My Thai daughter-in-law has trustingly given me some Thai papaya seeds to grow (Thai packet, labelled Papaya among lots of unreadable - to me - information). They have germinated in damp cloth and I have put them into a pot.

I looked them up on line and realised they are completely different from the usual papaya seeds, which are smooth and gelatinous. These have black prickly coats which split open to reveal the germinating seed with little branching roots.

Does anyone know anything about these prickly seeds?

We know we are not going to get fruit, but papaya grows in her garden in Bangkok and she is nostalgic for them.

[artichoke]

[Vinlander]

To state what some people will say is obvious...

The Thais are crazy about eating unripe papaya as a vegetable, and I'm pretty sure they have special varieties - you may have one of those - only one way to find out...

Cheers