Lop Buri, Thailand is known as the "City of Monkeys." And rightfully so, because at the center of this city is located an ancient Khmer ruin called Phra Prang Sam Yot. It occupies a large area that has been preserved and over hundreds of years monkeys have come to call this place home. They run freely throughout the ruin area while modern streets surround its perimeters.I first visited Lop Buri in January 1974 while living in Khorat, Thailand. See the photo..yes, that's me with the leather travel bag I had made with a python head attached. As you can tell it was quite the object of attention. Now, some 34 years later I'm on a bus again headed for Lop Buri.
I had shared my stories about this city with many friends over the years, and then recently The Discovery Channel aired a special on it. It was filmed as a documentary but with a special "twist." It was a story of "Romeo & Juliet" and true to Shakespeare, it had all the romance and drama one would expect. Over the passing years there evolved another area that found home to the monkeys. Across the street and not far from the ruin grounds is the Lop Buri Train Station. Between the ruins and the train station is now home for a another entire group of monkeys that have nothing to do with the so-called temple monkeys. In fact, they are rivals and do not intermingle. This had all been well and good up until "Romeo" from the temple group fell in love with "Juliet" from the city group. Their relationship caused quite a stir and literally ended up causing an outright war between the two groups. For several weeks there was bloodshed and deaths on a daily basis as these groups would collide. The fighting spilled onto the streets and created problems for the local residents and business owners. Seeing that there was no end in sight the local residents decided to take matters into their own hands a
nd devised a way to bring an end to this outright war. Both sides were beginning to feel the effects of all the fighting and bloodshed and were starting to suffer from lack of food. It was decided to close down the main street and use it as a central point where any of the monkeys could come for food. It wasn't long before the street was full of tables and plenty of food. This seemed to 
be the turning point as both sides were literally starving to death. They had to unite if they wanted to eat. It also helped that both Romeo and Juliet left town and no one knows what became of them. But the fighting stopped and life started to return to normal. Today their division still exists and they actually have two separate areas where food is laid out. Both groups co-exist but in there own areas, and they do not intermingle with one another. It truly is a sight to behold. Standing there on the temple grounds and watching all the monkeys and then looking across the street and seeing the city monkeys each in their own separate environment. 
nd devised a way to bring an end to this outright war. Both sides were beginning to feel the effects of all the fighting and bloodshed and were starting to suffer from lack of food. It was decided to close down the main street and use it as a central point where any of the monkeys could come for food. It wasn't long before the street was full of tables and plenty of food. This seemed to 
be the turning point as both sides were literally starving to death. They had to unite if they wanted to eat. It also helped that both Romeo and Juliet left town and no one knows what became of them. But the fighting stopped and life started to return to normal. Today their division still exists and they actually have two separate areas where food is laid out. Both groups co-exist but in there own areas, and they do not intermingle with one another. It truly is a sight to behold. Standing there on the temple grounds and watching all the monkeys and then looking across the street and seeing the city monkeys each in their own separate environment. 
Upon entering the temple grounds there is a small manned booth where one can buy small bags of sunflower seeds for feeding the monkeys and also receive a verbal recommendation that you remove anything that can be easily stolen by the monkeys, and to take precautions in safe guarding your purse as we were warned that they were "little thieves" and very good at their jobs. We were also each given a long thin piece of bamboo that we could use to "switch" them away if they were to become to friendly. Phyllis by now had already had a close encounter. Before entering the compound one of the small monkeys that had been sitting on the fence decided to fly through the air and attach himself to the front of her shirt which immediately prompted a shriek from her. What a sight seeing her pounce around screaming with this monkey clinging to the front of her. Maybe it was his way of greeting her. He was harmless and I was so busy laughing that I didn't have time to snap a picture.
Once inside we were greeted by a teenage boy who said his name was "Boy." He lived there with the monkeys and helped the tourists if there was need. He promptly started escorting us about to show us the ruins from both outside to insi
de. He showed us where he slept at night, and if it happened to be raining then he had an area inside that that he used. He spoke very little English so most of his explanations were in Thai. At one point when I was taking pictures I heard Phyllis scream. Turning I found there were several monkeys hanging on to her back and from her hair. Running over I proceeded to "switch" them off. After which we discovered what they were doing. She had a white hair tie that was holding her hair in a pony tail and now it was gone. One of them managed to get it out and steal it. However, not to worry as "Boy" was on to them and he quickly disappeared only to reappear again up near the top of the temple with the elastic tie in hand. He had chased the monkey up there and retrieved it for Phyllis.
de. He showed us where he slept at night, and if it happened to be raining then he had an area inside that that he used. He spoke very little English so most of his explanations were in Thai. At one point when I was taking pictures I heard Phyllis scream. Turning I found there were several monkeys hanging on to her back and from her hair. Running over I proceeded to "switch" them off. After which we discovered what they were doing. She had a white hair tie that was holding her hair in a pony tail and now it was gone. One of them managed to get it out and steal it. However, not to worry as "Boy" was on to them and he quickly disappeared only to reappear again up near the top of the temple with the elastic tie in hand. He had chased the monkey up there and retrieved it for Phyllis.It was an invigorating afternoon and the monkeys proved quite entertaining. We finished our small tour of the ruins and "Boy" accompanied us back to the entrance. He seemed to truly like our companionship even though it was for only a short time. He ne
ver once asked or implied for any money. However, before leaving I did give him 100 Baht which was about $3.00. It doesn't sound like much but here in Thailand they can make a 100 Baht go a long way. He was most appreciative and after receiving it placed his hands together in prayer like manner, held them up to his forehead and "waied" me as he said, "kop koon mak kop." Thank you very much.
ver once asked or implied for any money. However, before leaving I did give him 100 Baht which was about $3.00. It doesn't sound like much but here in Thailand they can make a 100 Baht go a long way. He was most appreciative and after receiving it placed his hands together in prayer like manner, held them up to his forehead and "waied" me as he said, "kop koon mak kop." Thank you very much.With that we were off to further explore the city.
"Time to go, the monkeys are starting to get to me..."
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