Monkey trainer rejects Peta claims of abuse

Primates: Nirun with a monkey during a training session at a monkey school for coconut harvesting in Surat Thani province. — Reuters

A monkey trainer in southern Thailand said that few monkeys are involved in harvesting coconuts for export, disputing an activist report which has caused several British supermarkets to ban coconut products from the country.

Nirun Wongwanich, 52, who trains monkeys to fetch coconuts at a “monkey school” in the province of Surat Thani, said most coconuts used for export are harvested by humans with poles.