200 monkeys run riot in Thailand, forcing police to barricade their own station

The primates broke free from enclosures and descended upon the town of Lopburi, causing chaos and prompting authorities to use food to lure them away.

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A long-tailed macaque attacks a person in Lopburi, Thailand, on February 3. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 18 Nov 2024Updated: 12:39pm, 19 Nov 2024

Police in central Thailand said they barricaded themselves into their own station over the weekend, after a menacing mob of 200 escaped monkeys ran riot on the town.

The human inhabitants of Lopburi have long suffered from a growing and aggressive monkey population, and authorities have built special enclosures to contain groups of the unruly residents.

But on Saturday, around 200 of the primates broke out and rampaged through town, with one posse descending on a local police station.

Police officers had to close the doors and windows of their police station after more than 100 monkeys escaped from an animal shelter in Lop Buri Municipality. Photo: Lopburi Provincial Public Relations Office

“We’ve had to make sure doors and windows are closed to prevent them from entering the building for food,” police captain Somchai Seedee said.

He was concerned the marauders could destroy property including police documents, he added.

Traffic police and officers on guard duty were being called in to fend off the visitors, the Lopburi police said on Facebook on Sunday.

02:20

Thai city starts rounding up urban macaques to tackle monkey menace

Around a dozen of the intruders were still perched proudly on the roof of the police station on Monday, photos from local media showed.