3,500 monkeys take over Thai city, putting Chinese investments on hold and making residents flee

Once a thriving trade hub, Lopburi city is at risk of becoming a ghost town with thousands of simians swarming the area, destroying shops and harassing visitors

The mischievous monkeys have deterred people from visiting the local shopping centre and the dwindling retail footprint has led to it being put up for sale

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Monkeys eat fruit in Lopburi province, Thailand. File photo: Reuters

Published: 6:30pm, 1 Feb 2024Updated: 11:42pm, 1 Feb 2024

Chinese investments on hold, vanishing shoppers and crumbling businesses: a city in central Thailand is staring down the risk of becoming a ghost town as thousands of menacing long-tailed monkeys strike fear in the local economy.

Several companies and stores have shut their operations and fled Lopburi city, once a thriving trade hub in the province, with some 3,500 simians taking control of the area.

Surachat Chanprasit, a representative from Pingya Shopping Centre, said monkeys frequently swarmed the establishment and harassed the customers who came to shop.

They also damaged store fronts, forcing owners to shell out for repair works and hastening their exit from there.

Marauding macaques were seen fighting over scraps of food in Lopburi, central Thailand, during the country’s first wave of coronavirus infections. Photo: Handout

The mischievous monkeys have deterred people from visiting the local shopping centre and the dwindling retail footprint led to it being put up for sale two years ago.