PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN —Municipal officials Thursday requested an urgent aid package for a group of locals left starving by the coronavirus: thousands of monkeys that live on a temple hill.
At today’s meeting, municipal officer Cheep Suksi said hordes of hungry monkeys are roaming the town to look for food because they could no longer rely on tourists feeding them.
Cheep said the main crowds of monkeys can be found at both Wat Khao Krailart and Khao Hin Lek Fai Viewpoint, about nine kilometers away from each other. Cheep said money is needed to feed and neuter the monkeys.
The monkeys are already disrupting business at hotels and condos, taking food from people outside, and damaging mangrove trees, Cheep said. With fewer visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic, the monkeys are also invading residential areas and digging through trash for food.
In Lopburi in March, a shortage of food offerings led to thousands of monkeys brawling in the city streets, brawling over scraps of food.
On May 16, Hua Hin deputy mayor Pailin Kongpan oversaw a delivery of fruits to feed the monkeys at Khao Hin Lek Fai Viewpoint. Pailin said she had received a donation of 2,000 baht from a concerned citizen who asked that the money be used to feed the monkeys there.
As soon as the deliveryman rode up to the viewpoint on a saleng with the fruits, the monkeys jumped onto it, grabbing what they could. The alpha males took the largest bananas and mangoes.
According to locals, the approximately 1,000 monkeys there are divided into two groups: “The Mafia” resides at the top of the viewpoint, while another group is usually found perching on the wall bordering a local golf course.
Call 032-511047 during government working hours to report sightings of large monkey gatherings in Hua Hin.
Related stories:
Lopburi’s Monkeys Food War Blamed on Plunge in Tourism
Too Much Monkey Business: Thai Town’s Love-Hate Relationship
