Thailand’s coconut-picking monkeys, long a popular tourist attraction, have become a sensitive trade issue as British advocates claim that the animals are abused and push for a boycott of the nation’s coconut products.
Thai Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit rejected the allegations made by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and declared that coconut harvesting by monkeys is not a major part of the industry.
He said the animals are mostly a tourist attraction and are not harmed.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Jurin on Monday said that PETA’s campaign was affecting sales in the UK as well as other European countries.
Thailand last year exported 12.3 billion baht (US$395 million) of coconut milk, including 2.2 billion baht to the EU and UK, according to the Thai government.
PETA said an undercover investigation of eight Thai farms found that monkeys are forced to gather as many as 1,000 coconuts a day and treated cruelly.
It said its campaign has led several major retail outlets to remove products from companies alleged to use Thai coconuts harvested by monkeys.
The PETA campaign has drawn extra attention after it was publicly applauded by Carrie Symonds, the fiancee of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
PETA senior vice president Jason Baker rejected the Thai minister’s denial of monkey abuse in the industry.
“The government can lead the industry to operate humanely, with an animal-free method that the rest of the region has already adopted, or it can be responsible for the industry’s downfall, because the writing is on the wall,” he said in an e-mailed statement. “Increasing numbers of consumers are speaking with their wallets, and retailers are listening.”
Jurin said his ministry would hold a meeting today with coconut industry representatives and he would invite foreign diplomats to see for themselves how harvesting is carried out.
Somjai Saekow, a monkey trainer in the southern province of Surat Thani, told reporters that although monkeys are still used for gathering coconuts, there is less demand for them.
“I still think monkeys are useful tools in picking coconuts,” she said. “But I can tell you that things are changing.”
She said over the years shorter trees have been cultivated to facilitate picking coconuts by other methods.
She said most owners take good care of their monkeys and treat them just like pets, although there were sure to be some exceptions.
“We have to point out those commit the wrongs and correct them,” she said. “But I truly believe that most people treat their monkeys right. And that’s the best way to do get them to work.”
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but