If you have ever driven to Haad Rin you may have noticed a gang of monkeys swinging on the electrical cables on the left hand side of the road. Whilst we don't recommend you to take your eyes off the road whilst driving or riding your bike there is a safe place to pull over and have a quick look and a photo. Please don't stop on the road as this place is on a very dangerous corner of the island.
These monkeys are called Long tailed Macaques. The species are all over South East Asia and are the most common primate - apart from us Humans of course!
These monkeys live in a wide range of habitats including the forests and jungles, mangroves, plantations and on the outskirts of towns and villages. The success of the survival of these cheeky monkeys is due to the large amount of fruit available for them to munch on. They also live on small birds when they can catch them and other small mammals, crabs, shellfish and human leftovers - maybe they have even tried a 7/11 toastie they have found before!
They can be identified by, surprise surprise, looking like a monkey! They have long tails (hence the name), and are generally a grey-brown or rustic brown colour.
They do however have a noisy aggressive temperament and can travel in groups of up to 30 in number.
As they are wild animals which are next to the road, people sometimes try to feed them all types of food that they should not be eating. Please only take photos of these monkeys and try not to interact with them by offering food as they will then start to act unnatural and can maybe start attacking people for their food. If this happens it will be the monkey that will be made to disappear which is obviously not fair to the monkey.
The monkeys here can sometimes go down to the beach and can be seen swinging around and again these are great for photos but it is better to leave them happily swinging in their tree or on the power lines above.
If they come more close to people causing trouble it's just not good. Only look and take photos and videos, but leave them to live in happiness with each other.
If you are excited by the prospect of seeing these they are on the way to Haad Rin near the big rock advertising the Full Moon Party but be careful taking photos on this part of the road as this part of the island is very busy with taxis and motorbikes flying around the corner, and who wants a selfie of yourself flying through the air with a look of shock on your face…park at the side of the road and out of the way and enjoy the wonderful site of these animals swinging around.
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