Exposed: Thai Coconut ‘Schools’ Abuse Baby Monkeys

Do you know where Thai coconut products really come from? In May 2024, PETA Asia investigators and independent veterinarian Dr Heather Rally cracked the Thai coconut industry wide open by exposing exploitative “schools” in which baby monkeys are imprisoned and forcibly trained to pick coconuts. As many as 50 baby monkeys at a single school are isolated and confined by the Thai coconut industry, their spirits broken so they can be forced to harvest coconuts for the rest of their lives.

Watch video footage from the largest facility they visited, then call on the Thai government to close all coconut-picking schools and ban monkey labour!

As long as these schools are operating out in the open, it’s clear the Thai government has no intention of ending monkey labour, despite false “monkey-free” claims. This deception makes it nearly impossible for Thai coconut farms to guarantee they don’t support this cruelty.

Thailand’s Coconut Industry Relies on Lies

Instead of transitioning to monkey-free methods of harvesting coconuts – such as planting shorter trees with coconuts that are easier to reach – the Thai government is working to mislead consumers. One broker admitted to PETA Asia’s investigators that with no oversight, coconut pickers simply lie. Brokers continue to buy coconuts picked by monkeys and sell them to companies that make coconut products, and the companies and the government tout an “audit system”, even though it relies primarily on coconut producers’ word.

The only solution is for the Thai government to ditch its false “monkey-free” certifications – which it offers to farms that have been proved to still use monkey labour – and make the practice illegal.

The Thai Government Is Complicit in Tearing Baby Monkeys From Their Mothers

At monkey schools, babies who are much too young to be separated from their mothers are tethered on ropes so short they’re barely able to move. Trapped with plastic rings around their tiny necks, they cling to each other in fear.

Denied any form of enrichment or comfort, these babies are chained and tethered on unforgiving metal bars that offer no relief, warmth, or shelter. Their only solace is what they can find among themselves. But the rope attached to one monkey was so short the baby was unable to huddle with the others and could only lie separately on a cage, seemingly sick or injured:

The monkey below was unable to move freely or sit on the ground because he was tethered by a short rope. His only option was to sit on top of the wire cage, which chafed his sensitive feet and bottom, or to stretch himself into an unnatural “hanging” position, straining his neck and throat:

Many monkeys were stuck in rubbish-strewn areas with no protection from the elements. Others were tied up in muddy spots that flooded when it rained and had nowhere to shelter as the dirty water rose higher around them:

While investigating one coconut picker’s home, PETA Asia’s representatives saw what the future held for baby monkeys once they “graduated”. An older monkey was imprisoned in a small cage and chained around the neck.

Dr Rally noted the following:

These conditions constitute extreme confinement and deprivation. Inside this cage, the animal has no water available, no way to escape from the extreme heat, no opportunity to take shelter, and nowhere to rest or escape from his own excrement or the discomfort inflicted by metal bars on his skin and feet. These conditions are psychologically torturous and physically debilitating as well as a direct threat to this animal’s life.