Thailand's Monkey Feast Festival, A Unique Attraction In Lopburi — See Pics

On Sunday, November 28th, monkeys enjoyed fruits and veggies at the Annual Lopburi Monkey Banquet at Prang Sam Yot temple in Thailand's Lopburi . (Image Source: Getty)

The annual monkey dinner is held in the central Thai town of Lopburi as a way of showing gratitude to the many macaques that live in the town. It was Yongyuth Kitwatanusont, a local businessman, who came up with the idea to offer a buffet of fruit and food to the monkeys as a way of showing appreciation, as the primates' presence had brought in much-needed tourism. (Image Source: Getty)

The banquet, which dates back to the 1980s, is held at the famous Khmer ruin in Prang Sam Yot, which was once a Hindu shrine. However, both local and foreign tourists find the inhabitants to be more fascinating because there are literally hundreds of crab-eating macaques in and around the Khmer temple. (Image Source: Getty)

The city is located 150 kilometres north of Thailand's capital, Bangkok. The province symbol is also a monkey. Outside the Ancient Three Pagodas enclosure, the city arranged up rows of artificial monkeys, sculptures holding platters. The fake monkeys then serve the food prepared by many volunteers to the real macaque monkeys. (Image Source: Getty)

They start to pounce as the well-prepared feast is carried to the temple and quickly start devouring the primarily vegetarian array. The festival this year was quieter compared to the previous ones, and most of the attendees were Thai. (Image Source: Getty)

The fake monkeys with trays were added in 2022 when organisers saw that the attendance of monkeys had declined the previous year due to an increase in visitors. As a result, this year's theme was 'monkeys feeding monkeys.' (Image Source: Getty)

A monkey eats a carrot during the Annual Monkey Banquet at Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi. (Image Source: Getty)

A portrait made with fruits and vegetables is part of the annual monkey banquet in Lopburi. (Image Source: Getty)