In a Thai village, homes are raided, property is
pinched and locals are attacked by dastardly gangs
operating beyond the law — but the perpetrators are
not men, but monkeys.
“They creep into my house when they see me
sleeping, they go into the kitchen and take cooking
oil, sugar and even the medicines that I hide in a
cabinet,” said Chaluay Khamkajit, after years battling
with pesky primates who are thought to have been
drawn into Khlong Charoen Wai village by habitat
loss.
“They took my snacks, I can buy new ones, but the
medicines are important to me,” the 72-year-old said,
as she and her husband demonstrated a variety of
anti-monkey devices including a homemade lock for
the fridge and the more direct deterrent of a sling-
shot.
Around 150 households in the shrimp farming
community in Chachoengsao province on the east
coast, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bangkok, have
suffered raids by so-called “sea monkeys” — long-
tailed macaques — for about a decade.
An increasing number of shrimp farms, coupled with
the associated deforestation, is thought to be behind
a surge in monkeys venturing into built-up areas.
“They could find food easily in the past but when
there is less forest, they have to find food in people’s
houses,” said village headman Chatree Kaencharoen,
expressing frustration at some villagers who give food
to the incorrigible creatures.
“Sometimes, a few hundred monkeys come at once —
especially at dawn and dusk when it is cooler. They
know it is time to be fed,” he said.
Conservation group WWF said people have
encroached on the monkeys’ habitat — not the other
way around.
“People have moved closer to nature, that is why
there is an increased chance of interaction between
human and animals,” WWF Thailand director Petch
Manopawitr told AFP.
“Macaques can adjust their behaviour quite well —
they learn in similar ways as humans — and when
they know that they can find food in a village, they
come.”
The spread of villages into formerly dense jungle has
caused other clashes between people and beasts in
Thailand.
“Wild pigs eat farm plants. But the villagers can also
shoot the pigs and eat them,” said Petch, adding that
elephants and tigers were a less edible source of
village disruption.
And the WWF says the problem is accelerating.
In a recent report, the conservation group said
demand for farmland could strip the Greater Mekong
region — Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and
Vietnam — of a third of its remaining forest cover
over the next two decades without swift government
action.
Between 1973 — the first point of available data —
and 2009, Thailand lost some 43 percent of its natural
woodland, the WWF said, although it praised the
country for its network of national parks.
Khlong Charoen Wai’s monkeys spend their days
hanging out on the narrow bamboo bridges that
meander across the coastal swampland at the edge of
the village.
Mothers lounge with babies slung across their chests,
while others leap between nearby mangrove trees.
They tend to flee when approached. But when
nobody seems to be looking, they climb onto roofs,
leaving trails of muddy footprints as they stalk into
homes through any openings they can find.
Residents have been forced to seal their houses with
nets, lock their windows despite the tropical heat, and
secure their property the best they can.
“They pushed over a 21-inch television, which fell and
smashed. They even stole a rice cooker, managed to
open it and scooped out the rice to eat,” said Chatree.
Local authorities tried to curb the monkey raids —
even attempting to sterilise the intruders. But that
effort was on too small a scale according to deputy
village head Tawin Songcharoen.
“We cannot stop them,” he told AFP.
pinched and locals are attacked by dastardly gangs
operating beyond the law — but the perpetrators are
not men, but monkeys.
“They creep into my house when they see me
sleeping, they go into the kitchen and take cooking
oil, sugar and even the medicines that I hide in a
cabinet,” said Chaluay Khamkajit, after years battling
with pesky primates who are thought to have been
drawn into Khlong Charoen Wai village by habitat
loss.
“They took my snacks, I can buy new ones, but the
medicines are important to me,” the 72-year-old said,
as she and her husband demonstrated a variety of
anti-monkey devices including a homemade lock for
the fridge and the more direct deterrent of a sling-
shot.
Around 150 households in the shrimp farming
community in Chachoengsao province on the east
coast, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bangkok, have
suffered raids by so-called “sea monkeys” — long-
tailed macaques — for about a decade.
An increasing number of shrimp farms, coupled with
the associated deforestation, is thought to be behind
a surge in monkeys venturing into built-up areas.
“They could find food easily in the past but when
there is less forest, they have to find food in people’s
houses,” said village headman Chatree Kaencharoen,
expressing frustration at some villagers who give food
to the incorrigible creatures.
“Sometimes, a few hundred monkeys come at once —
especially at dawn and dusk when it is cooler. They
know it is time to be fed,” he said.
Conservation group WWF said people have
encroached on the monkeys’ habitat — not the other
way around.
“People have moved closer to nature, that is why
there is an increased chance of interaction between
human and animals,” WWF Thailand director Petch
Manopawitr told AFP.
“Macaques can adjust their behaviour quite well —
they learn in similar ways as humans — and when
they know that they can find food in a village, they
come.”
The spread of villages into formerly dense jungle has
caused other clashes between people and beasts in
Thailand.
“Wild pigs eat farm plants. But the villagers can also
shoot the pigs and eat them,” said Petch, adding that
elephants and tigers were a less edible source of
village disruption.
And the WWF says the problem is accelerating.
In a recent report, the conservation group said
demand for farmland could strip the Greater Mekong
region — Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and
Vietnam — of a third of its remaining forest cover
over the next two decades without swift government
action.
Between 1973 — the first point of available data —
and 2009, Thailand lost some 43 percent of its natural
woodland, the WWF said, although it praised the
country for its network of national parks.
Khlong Charoen Wai’s monkeys spend their days
hanging out on the narrow bamboo bridges that
meander across the coastal swampland at the edge of
the village.
Mothers lounge with babies slung across their chests,
while others leap between nearby mangrove trees.
They tend to flee when approached. But when
nobody seems to be looking, they climb onto roofs,
leaving trails of muddy footprints as they stalk into
homes through any openings they can find.
Residents have been forced to seal their houses with
nets, lock their windows despite the tropical heat, and
secure their property the best they can.
“They pushed over a 21-inch television, which fell and
smashed. They even stole a rice cooker, managed to
open it and scooped out the rice to eat,” said Chatree.
Local authorities tried to curb the monkey raids —
even attempting to sterilise the intruders. But that
effort was on too small a scale according to deputy
village head Tawin Songcharoen.
“We cannot stop them,” he told AFP.
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