By Artorn Pookasook
LOPBURI, Thailand (Reuters) - Marauding monkeys won't face slingshots anymore in the historic Thai city of Lopburi, where they have been rounded up and sterilised after turning rampant over the past four years.
Before COVID-19 shut Lopburi, some of its 58,000 residents casually fed the 3,000 long-tailed macaques that lived alongside and even threw an annual fruit banquet for them, drawing tourists to "Monkey City", a three-hour drive north of Bangkok.
The macaques, believed to bring good fortune, also inhabit nearby forests and have long been a part of the city's history.
But after Lopburi came out of the pandemic lockdown in mid-2022, its residents found that the monkeys, without people feeding them, had become unruly.
Troops of macaques had taken over buildings, often confronting residents, stealing food and causing accidents. Gangs of monkeys also fought in brawls, shocking locals. Some residents resorted to caging themselves within their homes.
"Their method is robbery - by all means," said Wisarut Somngam, a local researcher with Ecoexist Society, a non-governmental organisation, where he is studying the situation.
"They were ready to snatch anything off your hands, any bags they suspect contain food or items like mobile phones."
Small children, elderly women and even policemen carried around slingshots to try and scare away the macaques.
Reuters journalists made half a dozen trips to Lopburi this year, including during the height of the monkeys' aggression in early 2024.
As complaints mounted after February, authorities armed with slingshots and traps sprang into action to catch the primates that had wreaked havoc and even scared some residents into putting up metal bars at their homes for protection.
"We have to cage ourselves inside, we have no freedom even on the premises of our own homes," said Jirat Buapromart, 54.
"They are ready to steal anything they can from us."
By May, authorities stepped up the push against the monkeys, including boosting sterilisation efforts that began during the pandemic.
"Our goal is to neuter all the monkeys, 100% of them," local veterinarian Patarapol Maneeorn from the government wildlife department said in September.
The monkeys would then be put into a designated area where they will be looked after, he said.
Five months after the start of the government's campaign, Lopburi's primate pandemonium has finally come under control, with around 1,600 monkeys in captivity.
Some animal rights groups agree with authorities on neutering the monkeys, but not putting them in cages.
"The monkeys are suffering because currently they're in a cage that is not designed for them," said Edwin Wiek, founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. "It's not proper for them."
Wiek pressed the government to increase funding to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, which has personnel trained in animal care and treatment.
For some residents, the return of calm on the streets of Lopburi is a relief. "Things have become a little easier because most of the monkeys were captured. Life is easier," said clock maker Chalit Nithiwkram, 64.
Business was also improving, he said: "If there were monkeys, no customers would dare to come by and park their cars here."
For others, Lopburi and its monkeys are inseparable.
"Monkeys are part of Lopburi's identity," said Supaporn Reanprayoorn, 38, who runs a store near a temple where monkeys often gathered. She sometimes gave them snacks.
"Let tourists take pictures with them - just a hundred or two."
(Additional reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa and Chalinee Thirasupa; Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Sonali Paul)
