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The Monkey Festival is a traditional festival of Lopburi Province, held annually on the last Sunday of November to honor the monkeys of Lopburi and express gratitude to the animals for their contribution to local tourism. Lopburi is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand, and due to the large number of monkeys in its tourist spots, it is also known as the "Monkey Province".(Temporary translation: Monkey Province).
According to CNN, this is the first time in two years that the monkeys have been able to enjoy an abundance of fruits and vegetables donated by locals, as the 2020 festival had to be canceled due to the pandemic.
Macaque monkeys gather outside the Phra Prang Sam Yod temple during the Monkey Festival in Lopburi province – an area north of Bangkok, on November 28, 2021. - Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Jack Taylor/
During the festival, visitors can witness Macaque monkeys freely running and jumping, even becoming somewhat boisterous and mischievous outside the temples, engaging in playful antics such as snatching tourists' cameras or climbing on staff members, and most importantly, enjoying the gifts that the festival has left for them.
"The special treat today is durian, an expensive fruit. The monkeys in Lopburi love expensive things," Yongyuth Kitwatananusont, who has been in charge of organizing the Monkey Festival for over 30 years, told CNN in an interview.
The food prepared for the monkeys at the festival was worth a total of 100,000 baht (over $3,000). - Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Jack Taylor
Macaque monkeys enjoy a wide variety of fruits during the festival. - Photo: Getty Images/Chaiwat Subprasom
Over 100,000 tourists visited Thailand in November – a number equal to the total for the first 10 months of 2021 combined. Since November 1st, Thailand has reopened its borders to tourists from certain countries who have received two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Those who meet the entry requirements and can provide proof of a negative Covid-19 PCR test will not need to undergo quarantine.
In the coming period, Thailand will also gradually reopen other regions of the country. The country plans to reopen 20 provinces by early December and expects to reopen an additional 13 border provinces from January 1, 2022.
