Protests Over Coconut Milk? PETA’s Campaign Explained
A troop of PETA “monkeys” in prisoner garb dumped buckets full of “coconut milk” over themselves outside the Royal Thai Embassy in London on Thursday. The action follows the release of PETA Asia’s footage exposing Thailand’s coconut-picking training “schools” that keep baby pig-tailed macaque monkeys on chains.
The animal rights advocates urged embassy officials to end the exploitation of endangered monkeys in Thailand’s coconut-picking industry, with signs declaring “Thailand: Dump Monkey Labour” and “Monkeys Tortured for Thai Coconut Milk.”
Baby Monkeys Chained for Coconut Milk
Footage from a PETA Asia investigation into Thailand’s coconut-picking training “schools” shows endangered baby pig-tailed macaque monkeys restrained on chains so short they can barely move. These intelligent primates were kept in flooded or rubbish-strewn areas and driven insane by endless confinement – all so that they could be forcibly trained to pick coconuts.
Thai coconut “schools” are pits of despair for endangered baby monkeys, who were abducted from their families in nature or bred on-site and taken from their mothers. Tethered on ropes and chains, they had no shelter from extreme weather and were denied comfort, enrichment, or adequate socialisation.
Many of them were tied to tiny cages with metal bars that chafed their skin raw. Monkeys paced neurotically, and some ran frantically while attached to tethers, repeatedly choking themselves on their collars.
The schools – which are promoted to tourists on the Thai government website – put on deceptive coconut-picking “demonstrations” for visitors that involve adult monkeys who have been abused and broken.
What You Can Do
PETA is urging Thai officials to shut down these shameful facilities and ban monkey labour. We urge you to ditch canned coconut milk from Thailand until every monkey is free.
Please also take action below to urge the Thai government to end this suffering by shutting down these schools and banning monkey labour in the country:
