Thai Wildlife.

[soundman]

I was driving back from work in Phisanulohk about two weeks ago. I had the wife and daughter with me, so we decided to stop in Lopburi for lunch & to see the ruins. We parked the car, near the roundabout, opposite the ruins and walked around, had a nice lunch etc.

On arriving back to my car, my jaw just about hit the deck. My nine month old Fortuner had been vandalized – by a pack of monkeys. The little critters had bent the mirrors, ripped off the windscreen wipers, managed to pull out some of the water and dust rubber stoppers from the doors, they had even been chewing on the tyres, and to top it off there was monkey crap all over the paint work.

There were still a dozen or so of the little bas!ards on the car, so I ran up & proceeded to try and belt them off my car. On doing this I was approached by an elderly thai lady, who proceeded to explain to me that I can’t harm the monkeys because they are sacred to Lopburi. I was then informed that my car is now “lucky” because the “sacred monkeys” were sitting on it.

10,000B down the toilet – great luck indeed!!!

Anybody else suffered similar wildlife miss-fortune??

Soundman.

[peter991]

I have had the opposite experience: I am amazed at the lack of wildlife in Issan. Apart from the domesticated cats, dogs, chickens and ducks - I have yet to encounter anything larger than butterflies in the bush!

Peter

[Briggsy]

[quote n

The Lopburi monkeys also rip bands and clips out of people's hair. Nasty blighters but you've gotta love them.

The ones on the hill in Phetburi will snatch your bags too.

[Pattaya_Fox]

I was driving back from work in Phisanulohk about two weeks ago. I had the wife and daughter with me, so we decided to stop in Lopburi for lunch & to see the ruins. We parked the car, near the roundabout, opposite the ruins and walked around, had a nice lunch etc.

On arriving back to my car, my jaw just about hit the deck. My nine month old Fortuner had been vandalized – by a pack of monkeys. The little critters had bent the mirrors, ripped off the windscreen wipers, managed to pull out some of the water and dust rubber stoppers from the doors, they had even been chewing on the tyres, and to top it off there was monkey crap all over the paint work.

There were still a dozen or so of the little bas!ards on the car, so I ran up & proceeded to try and belt them off my car. On doing this I was approached by an elderly thai lady, who proceeded to explain to me that I can’t harm the monkeys because they are sacred to Lopburi. I was then informed that my car is now “lucky” because the “sacred monkeys” were sitting on it.

10,000B down the toilet – great luck indeed!!!

Anybody else suffered similar wildlife miss-fortune??

Soundman.

Most of the monkeys seek sanctuary in the temple which is situated by the railway crossing at the bottom of the road which leads to the old ruins.

They are indeed a protected species.......although I have noted in the past that some of the local shop keepers use catapults to keep them away from their stalls.

I also learned a lesson when one swooped down from a building and stole my mobile phone a few years back. I rang the number a few times to arrange a swap for some fruit......but alas there was no reply.

[uptou]

i used to go & visit this gibbon (chaanee,the light brown kind) at a chinese temple in a town in the north,which was the usual tied up to a palm tree without any of its kind around.it loved it when i gave it some cut pineapple.it was bored with bannanas.

eventually she became very fond of me & used to jump up & hug me around the neck & start humping my belly & shaking its head from side to side like she was mad.i also became very fond of her also (she didnt speak for a start,& only wanted a few bits of pineapple & a bit of the above),& i was worried when the monks told me that she had been moved onto another temple,as i could tell that people were getting tired of the chain rattling on the bamboo pole of a night as they tied her up more tightly (which i used to undoo).

ps.i should add that the sexual attraction was only one way.she was just good company.

[Chang_paarp]

At least your car was not the center of attention of a herd of elephants, that would have made the continuing journey a little more challenging.

[soundman]

Just to add another incident.

Several years ago my wife & I were in Hua Hin. We went to visit that wat on top of the rocky outcrop. Heaps of those little smelly vermin monkeys around.

We bought some peanuts & as my wife was standing their with the tray in her hand, several of the monkeys attacked her to get the peanuts.

She received a nasty bite on her arm. Result - trips to the hospital for injections for about 2 months.

Watch out for thos disease ridden blighters.....

Soundman.

[KireB]

Hooligan monkeys? I'm gonna check Youtube!

[draggons]

had to laugh at the rock bar in railay when a group of farangs were warned about sitting close to the jungle with their food as there was a group of thieving monkeys on the go. Advice not taken and pleanty of laughs all round when they were jumped by about twenty of them nicking all the grub and drinks.

The barmaid even started leaving out glasses of whisky & coke for the craik of seeing them pi**ed.

[tim armstrong]

had to laugh at the rock bar in railay when a group of farangs were warned about sitting close to the jungle with their food as there was a group of thieving monkeys on the go. Advice not taken and pleanty of laughs all round when they were jumped by about twenty of them nicking all the grub and drinks.

The barmaid even started leaving out glasses of whisky & coke for the craik of seeing them pi**ed.

I dont think the monkey problem is that funny anymore. I live near Nakhon Sawan where there is a large population of them near a well known bat colony. They live around a poorly maintained temple in their hundreds. They have almost deforested a small mountain and appear to be out of control population wise. Even 2 years ago the monkeys were a local tourist attraction. But now I wouldn't take anyone there, for fear of them catching some weird disease. The conditions seem ripe for this to happen. I dont think the local authorities have the interest or resources to do anything.

[andook]

Sounds like Windsor Safari Park eons ago. Remember the babboons pulling me Dad's antennae off his Ford Anglia and simultaneously masturbating over the windscreen. It was a great day out.

[qwertz]

A baby elephant once mugged me in LOS for my bag of fresh fruit; the locals thought it was hilarious. I found it funny too after I got my breath back from the head butt in my solar plexus. And a monkey stole my glasses. And a soi dog humped my leg and got very aggressive when I tried to shake it off, so I told it, "Okay, but hurry up".

Edited March 25, 2007 by qwertz

[Farma]

One of those situations you need to see to fully appreciate.

A few weeks ago I was driving along in front of the Suka Pub in Sisaket. A medium sized elephant was being led along the side of the road by its handler. A small long brown haired dog was yapping and nipping at the rear right leg of the elephant.

Without missing a beat the elephant swung its leg out collecting the dog on the way and sending it flying a good couple of metres.

The elephant wandered off as if nothing had happened.

[ZukiSuzuki]

had to laugh at the rock bar in railay when a group of farangs were warned about sitting close to the jungle with their food as there was a group of thieving monkeys on the go. Advice not taken and pleanty of laughs all round when they were jumped by about twenty of them nicking all the grub and drinks.

The barmaid even started leaving out glasses of whisky & coke for the craik of seeing them pi**ed.

I dont think the monkey problem is that funny anymore. I live near Nakhon Sawan where there is a large population of them near a well known bat colony. They live around a poorly maintained temple in their hundreds. They have almost deforested a small mountain and appear to be out of control population wise. Even 2 years ago the monkeys were a local tourist attraction. But now I wouldn't take anyone there, for fear of them catching some weird disease. The conditions seem ripe for this to happen. I dont think the local authorities have the interest or resources to do anything.

Replace the word 'monkey' with 'farang' and you could be reading a Thai forum.

[Nignoy]

One of those situations you need to see to fully appreciate.

A few weeks ago I was driving along in front of the Suka Pub in Sisaket. A medium sized elephant was being led along the side of the road by its handler. A small long brown haired dog was yapping and nipping at the rear right leg of the elephant.

Without missing a beat the elephant swung its leg out collecting the dog on the way and sending it flying a good couple of metres.

The elephant wandered off as if nothing had happened.

Gather round folks pull up a bucket of sand and I will tell you a war story before huts were built in our camp in Leong nok tha we lived under canvas, in those days wild life was abundant, civet cats, all types of furry creatures, and lots of snakes and lizards , cobras love folded up bedding to sleep on and scorpions and spiders love sweaty boots to hide in , we even had the odd elephant popping in !!but we used to have a good laugh watching the new soldiers get mugged by Black Kites as they came out of the mess tent, the kites would swoop and snatch the food from the messtins of the unsuspecting squaddies!!Once a month we used to have to go for a bit of a stroll along the river, seeing as we werent officially in thailand, we had no weapons, just backpackers in Khaki we had occasion to dig in for a couple of days on mountainside in what is now Phu mhu national park near Mukdaharn, in the night we heard screams coming from a hidden camp below us, we found out later , a tigress had dragged a man out of his basha ,and had eaten him,this was all sort of within a 100 yards of where we were dug in, needless to say , we were a bit more wildlife conscious after that Nignoy

[Jet Gorgon]

Sorry about your car, Soundman, but that is funny. In retrospect, of course.

[skipvice]

Now you know why it was so easy to find a parking spot

[cobra]

Yeap, careful when monkeys are around. A friends camera was snatched up in a instance as he was taking a group photo with the timer.

Also don't forget when a gecko craps on you that's good luck also.

[0Mix1up]

I've only noticed the lack of bird life when travelling around the jungle, maybe I don't know where to look or just don't see them but if so they are very quiet.

guess thats better than here where we are inundated with introduced species.

F####n pigeons, minors, sparrows and an over population of native seagulls (large food source)

You see the odd pair of rosellas some magpies and a few other natives.

[Anthony_Mustang]

Back in 2001 I was snorkelling of a beach near Phi Phi.

Got on to a beach and a monkey was about 15-20 metres away another bunch of about ran out of the jungle and got between me and the water. I was wondering what they where up to and kept an eye on them Next thing I know a couple more ran out of the jungle while my back was turned and started to attack me. One grabbed my leg and bit me right down into the bone.

I did and absolute bolter and ran threw them and got to the water.

I had to go get the first of a bunch of rabies shot. I was flying home the next day so had to get the next shot back in Australia.

The only good thing was that on Monday I had to ring work and tell them " Sorry can't come into today I was attacked by a pack of Monkey's and am being treated for Rabies".

I was given an award at the end of the year for the greatet excuse ever for not coming into work on a Monday.

[leisurely]

Mine is much tamer. I found a clutch of gekko eggs in the gusset of my knickers, then spent a frantic 15 minutes with the shower head directed northwards. I had horrid visions of hatching out a pile of babies if any managed to climb my flue

[brahmburgers]

monkeys snatching mobile phones and cameras? I wonder if they've been trained by thieves?

[November Rain]

Mine is much tamer. I found a clutch of gekko eggs in the gusset of my knickers, then spent a frantic 15 minutes with the shower head directed northwards. I had horrid visions of hatching out a pile of babies if any managed to climb my flue

What do gecko eggs look like, L?

Soundman, the monkeys on Khao Takiap (HH) can be so & sos. My little boy was bitten by one, too & had to get rabies shots. Another time he was drinking a carton of chocolate milk & the blighters pinched it out of his hand (that was previous, we haven't been back since the bite).

We found a clutch of snake eggs in our fuse box in the dog center. The electricity had gone off, so we decided to check it out, loads of eggs in there, some hatched, some not. I actually broke some of them while turning the electricity off so we could investigate, snake foetuses in the electrics... Never did see the hatchlings...

[ZukiSuzuki]

Mine is much tamer. I found a clutch of gekko eggs in the gusset of my knickers, then spent a frantic 15 minutes with the shower head directed northwards. I had horrid visions of hatching out a pile of babies if any managed to climb my flue

That just put me of my breakfast

[Gary A]

There was a time when I thought monkeys were cute cuddly creatures. That was BEFORE I moved to Thailand. Now I am of the opinion that they are thieving mean little bastards. Some of them have fangs longer than the doberman I used to have.

I think that I was conned down near Pra Chuap Kirikan by a big mean monkey and his trainer. The monkey sat on the hood of my car and wouldn't allow me to get near the door. I was looking for a rock but decided that I may damage my car or maybe the monkey would come after me. I went to a fruit vendor (his partner ??) across the road and bought a few bananas. I threw them on the ground one at a time and the other monkeys ran off with them while this big one just watched me and refused to move. I went back to the fruit vendor and he had a BIG smile on his face. He told me that I would have to buy a bunch of bananas or the monkey wouldn't move. I bought a bunch of bananas and threw them in front of the car. Sure enough the monkey jumped down and ran off with the whole bunch.

I watched one tourist lose his set of Rayban sun glasses and a little kid lose a bag of candy. Maybe it IS amusing as long as it is not you who is victimized.

[PhilHarries]

I was working down the seaward end of the Esso refinery at Sriracha when a troop of monkeys came by walking along the top of the fence. The, very obvious, alpha male was a big rough looking sod who'd lost one of his hind legs which didn't seem to hinder his movements much. Anyway the pack leapt down and scurried off down the jetty not the big bozo though. He scaled one of the lighting poles and gave it a right good old shaking all the time giving us the meanest scowl I've seen on a monkey. He clambered down and sauntered off but the message was clear. "This is my manor, I'm the boss and any bovver from you'se lot and I'll be 'aving yer".

He could've got a job as security at any bar in Pattaya.

[roguegirl]

Monkey and them critters, eh?

Well, back from where I come from, they'll be careful. We ate them. They are tasty too!

In one coastal village close to mangrove swamp, the monkeys stole school kids food and school supplies! Darn creature they are!

[jdinasia]

Just to add another incident.

Several years ago my wife & I were in Hua Hin. We went to visit that wat on top of the rocky outcrop. Heaps of those little smelly vermin monkeys around.

We bought some peanuts & as my wife was standing their with the tray in her hand, several of the monkeys attacked her to get the peanuts.

She received a nasty bite on her arm. Result - trips to the hospital for injections for about 2 months.

Watch out for thos disease ridden blighters.....

Soundman.

So ... years ago you had troubles with the monkeys at Wat Khao Takiap ... and then went on to Lopburi after that?!

[KhunMarco]

No surprise, monkeys and human share 96% of genes eh

[qwertz]

On a sober note, I notice that many Asians are cruel to animals or at best indifferent. I remember sitting in a bar and seeing a badly injured soi dog lying in agony in the blazing sun. I couldn't move it into shade for fear of being bitten but I asked the barman for a basin of water which the dog drank in one go. The barman said "Farangs are funny, it's only a dog". Just one example of many; it's no wonder the animals don't like us.