A Swedish tourist was visiting a temple when he was attacked by a monkey that bit his neck in Lopburi, central Thailand.
The incident occurred when a group of four Swedish tourists visited the historic Phra Prang Sam Yot temple around 4 pm on December 30.
One of the tourists, Mr. Joel, was bitten by one of the local macaques and suffered a 2-centimeter wound on the right side of his neck.
The Tha Hin police station immediately called the emergency medical services, and the victim was taken to Pranararai Maharaj Hospital for treatment and vaccination.
The four Swedish tourists smiling after Joel (far left), who was bitten by a monkey, received initial treatment and was vaccinated on December 30, 2024. Photo: Khaosod English
Banjerd Roisaensuk, a site guard, explained that the incident occurred during a shift change.
According to him, the attack may have been triggered either by the monkey trying to seize the tourist's personal belongings or by tourists handling baby monkeys, which often provokes protective behavior from the mother monkeys.
"Such incidents have become rare since the monkey population was reduced," noted Mr. Banjerd.
See: Thailand's famous monkey city revives with fewer monkeys
"Monkeys are generally attracted to objects such as sunglasses, headbands, colored bags or food.
We always warn Thai and foreign tourists about this, and we sometimes have to use sticks to control the most turbulent monkeys."
The macaques, passionate about new technologies, also appreciate iPhones, see:
See: Thailand: a French woman has her iPhone stolen by a monkey in Lopburi
The incident occurred during the New Year holidays, when many tourists visit the temple and come to observe the remaining monkey population.
Macaque on a sign indicating the name of the Phra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi.
Local authorities and the Ministry of Natural Resources have already relocated more than 2,000 monkeys to a dedicated sanctuary, leaving a generally less aggressive population on the historic site.
The municipality of Lopburi has recently installed street art in the temple area on the occasion of the New Year festival, which has attracted more visitors to the site.
The authorities have stressed that it was an isolated incident, the remaining monkey population being generally well-behaved and non-aggressive.
They continue to advise visitors to exercise caution and follow the staff's guidelines when visiting the historic site.
See also:
Thailand: 100 monkeys escape from a cage and cause chaos in Lop Buri
Thailand: police help a tourist victim of a thief monkey in Phuket
Thailand launches a police unit to catch delinquent monkeys.
In response to the rise in monkey attacks, Thailand to compensate victims
The violent attack on a woman by a monkey in Thailand sparks debate
Thailand tries to regain control over the city of delinquent monkeys
The inhabitants of the city of monkeys in Thailand are living a real nightmare
Terrifying monkey attack in Thailand after peeing on the roadside
A family of tourists savagely attacked by monkeys in Thailand
Source: Khaosod English
9 comments
In his misfortune, it is fortunate that this Swedish tourist suffered a fairly deep bite, but one that did not reach either the jugular vein or the carotid artery, both of which are two important axes of blood circulation between the brain, heart, and lungs.
A significant and sudden drop in blood pressure in one of these 2 "highways" of human blood could have resulted in a loss of consciousness, coma, and even the death of the victim…
Fortunately, it is not the case and this young tourist gets away with a scar as a souvenir and a lot of luck…
As I've already pointed out in another comment on the subject, during the 'cleaning' operations of these invaders in Lopburi, this city north of Bangkok will never be a destination for me…
I prefer sunsets over the ocean, the landscapes of the northern mountains, the Khmer sites in the east, the beaches and islands in the south.
To each their own 'thing', and anyone is free to take risks inherent in certain situations that are beyond our control…
Everyday life is already dangerous enough as it is, especially on the roads, without voluntarily adding a few layers…
I still prefer the furtive and very ephemeral company of a few snakes, which annually cross my garden and flee my presence by capturing the vibrations of my footsteps on the ground several meters away.
@Hansson: You're a Bot, it's not possible, we see you on every article with a post as long as my arm.
Especially since sometimes your details go beyond the article in question, it's certain that you're a Bot.
Or if that's not the case, there's a big problem..
555 !!! Ahhh ! A Bot !!!
They hadn't done that to me yet…
For those who don't know the definition of a "Bot" (and I reassure those people, it's absolutely not essential to live well…), we find under this name all the software (there are tens of thousands that are active every day on the Net) that work automatically on the pages of all internet sites…
A simple example: when you do a search on a website, Google, Facebook, a price comparator, an online store, it is a "bot" that is responsible for finding the pages that interest you; when you enter a question via a virtual assistant, it is a "bot" that answers you, and there, when you increase the degree of reflection of the "private" dialogue that you try to establish between the machine and you, it is at this moment that you reach the limits of the "memory" of the robot…
That's for the good Bots… but there are also the bad ones: those that coordinate the action of malicious software that blocks your computer or steals your personal data, bank accounts, credit cards, the optional "cookies" that embed and record your activity on the web, open your camera to spy on you better…
Bots are everywhere, in all commercial applications, online stores, websites of political parties, governments, all police forces in the world, the FBI, secret services, criminal organizations, mafia, hackers use these software for their information needs, tracking, espionage, etc, etc, etc…
That's it, I'm going to stop there, because Lucien is going to find that I'm too long… and then, I risk overheating by trying to think too much, and my circuits could "crash" !!!
Well, I've learned 1 word and what it is!
OK, bot; have fun.
Hello,
I've been living in Thailand for 2 years, and even before that, I used to visit regularly the site that was very useful to me.
One of the main reasons I left France (and the West in general) was the permanent anxiety-inducing climate and the ambient depression/gloom.
The content of media topics is largely responsible.
I think it's a shame that ToutelaThailande is following this editorial path.
The articles now only talk about crime, deaths, attacks, fraud, disasters..
In short, things I wanted to leave behind and that Hua Hin managed to make me forget.
So I'll also be moving away from this site, with regret.
All the best to you.
Hello Biloute,
Yes, we are back to Thai news topics, today it is difficult to survive by only writing articles about tourism.
And unfortunately, there are more 'stressful' news than good news.
Thank you for following us and continuing in the same way!
It seems that in the north the word means Little Bi…
In Chti, I don't know, but in any case, in northern Thailand, they say 'bak ham noi', used for little boys.