Striving to counter allegations of animal cruelty, the Department of Agriculture in Thailand has announced the launch of a new certification system, Monkey Free Plus (MFP), for coconut products not harvested by monkeys.

 

This move comes in response to claims put forward by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), which has negatively impacted the export of Thai coconuts and related products to the United States, Canada, Europe, and other markets. These revelations were shared by the department’s director-general, Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs.

 

In July, a consortium of coconut milk producers implored the government to respond to these allegations and hire a lobbyist to protect the industry’s interests. These appeals were triggered by accusations claiming the mistreatment of monkeys used in Thailand’s coconut harvesting process.

 

Peta had posted a tweet stating, “Reminder that if you see ‘Thai’ or ‘Thailand’ on a can of coconut milk, leave it on the shelf. The Thai coconut industry kidnaps countless monkeys as babies & later forces them to pick coconuts.”

 

by Mitch Connor

Photo courtesy of livekindly.com

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/news/national/thailand-launches-monkey-free-certification-for-coconut-products-amid-peta-allegations

 

-- Thaiger 2023-08-25

 

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MFP sounds like a new political party  ????

And of course you can always believe what they say on the label.

7 hours ago, webfact said:

new certification system, Monkey Free

Rhesus Negative???

I think the monkeys enjoy collecting coconuts. I've seen them, they rush up the trees and thrown the coconuts down like it's a greta fun game. I'll still be sending monkeys up mu trees and buy fake certifications.

I am a supporter of PETA

People Eating Tasty Animals - that one

Oh, this would be declared so racist if Thailand starts rolling this out to all countries and starts asking African countries for monkey free imported banana certification !

where do I sign up to be the PETA person policing this?

1 minute ago, wombat said:

where do I sign up to be the PETA person policing this?

Why don't you sign up to take over the job of getting coconuts from the trees .

   If the monkeys cannot do the work, then a human will have to do it , would you be willing to do the job ?

27 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Why don't you sign up to take over the job of getting coconuts from the trees .

   If the monkeys cannot do the work, then a human will have to do it , would you be willing to do the job ?

And work for peanuts. 

Get real, the monkeys are getting a better deal than the Cambodian workers.

PETA should give all the coconut pickers free crains $$$$.....Or shut their mouths........I bet the monkey pickers are taken care of very well by their owners....

Edited August 25, 20232 yr by redwood1

3 hours ago, retarius said:

I think the monkeys enjoy collecting coconuts. I've seen them, they rush up the trees and thrown the coconuts down like it's a greta fun game. I'll still be sending monkeys up mu trees and buy fake certifications.

I like to see them work, just like buffalo ploughing - it’s a traditional way of harvesting or cultivation. I am amazed when they sit still on the back of battered pickups. However, apparently they beat the living crap out of them when they are young to get them to fall in to line.

 

This organisation fails to consider that if monkeys didn’t collect the coconuts then a 12 year old Burmese kid would probably be sent up there 7 days a week, without a safety harness, probably for about 300B a day if he was lucky - would consumers pay the increased price of human exploitation? 

Folks, You can't make this stuff up.  ha ha ha ha 

I thought the certification was  for "Free from Monkeypox virus"....

Coconut trees  can grow 60-100 ft high

So ..   this is ok ?  

I'll stick with the monkey

5 hours ago, redwood1 said:

PETA should give all the coconut pickers free crains $$$$.....Or shut their mouths........I bet the monkey pickers are taken care of very well by their owners....

From what I've seen in Surat Thani and Chumpon, the monkeys are treated very well. No bad practice at all. A few years ago there was a campaign against shrimp farming in Thailand. What next?

 

 

  

I was in the South on tour in June 2020 and filmed the trip. Here's a clip from the trip. It doesn't show the monkeys up the trees but shows them returning at the end of the day of harvesting.