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The Ko Phangan Monkeys. Photo Post.

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Ko Phangan is a beautiful and relatively unspoiled island off the east coast of southern Thailand. It is easy to reach from Ko Samui by ferry. We spent 6 weeks on Ko Phangan because one of us became unwell and needed emergency surgery. One day on Ko Phangan the coconut-picking monkeys came to visit. Coconut trees need de-nutting for safety and to harvest the ripe coconuts. On Ko Phangan the nutting is done by trained monkeys.

“We really have stumbled on a little slice of paradise on the Thai island, Ko Phangan.

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The beach is perfect. Clear, safe waters and an aquarium of sea life for us to explore. The kids are happy playing with new friends and we have a simple but lovely beachside bungalow to call home.

We had a bit of excitement this morning. The arrival of the Ko Phangan monkeys.

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Trained working monkeys, with their handlers. Large, aggressive-looking males, so we stayed well away.

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They scampered up the coconut palms, gave each nut a monkey-handed twist and the older nuts fell to the beach. I have never, in all my years of travelling, seen monkeys do this job before.

We really should take this idea back to Port Douglas, it’s $50/tree for safety de-nutting back there!”

Head to our Thailand Travel archives for all of our Thailand coverage, including more on Koh Phangan.

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Suzanne Sherwood

Saturday 14th of September 2013

Very interesting, the boys would have loved seeing them.

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