Lopburi's human residents have always had a complex relationship with the troops of macaques that also call the Thai city home. The simians attracted tourists and that was good for the economy. But, when Covid-19 put a stop to the tourist trade, thousands of macaques lost their primary source of free food. The monkeys did not respond well.
Residents barricaded indoors, rival gang fights and no-go zones for humans. Welcome to Lopburi, an ancient Thai city overrun by monkeys super-charged on junk food, whose population is growing out of control.
Pointing to the overhead netting covering her terrace, Kuljira Taechawattanawanna bemoans the monkey menace across the heart of the 13th-century city in the central province of the same name.
"We live in a cage but the monkeys live outside," she tells AFP.
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