Thailand assures Europe that monkeys that pick coconuts are not abused

Monkeys ride on the back of a pickup truck loaded with coconuts after they collecting them from a plantation in Chumphon province, southern Thailand. - AP

BANGKOK (Xinhua): Thailand's Ministry of Commerce on Thursday (July 30) said Thai embassies in Europe had gone through great lengths to explain how Thai monkeys are trained to pick coconuts from trees, and that the practice had nothing to do with animal abuse, as claimed by animal rights activists.

"After allegations of Thai coconut farmers forcing monkeys to climb up trees to pick coconuts, European countries are now coming to an understanding that it is only natural for Thai trained monkeys to pick coconuts, as their body structure facilitates the practice," said the Ministry's Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP).