Four British retailers have removed coconut products alleged to involve monkey labour in their production, after reports emerged the animals were used by some farms in Thailand to pick the fruit.
The Telegraph newspaper published a report citing the probe by PETA Asia, which highlighted the use of pigtailed macaques taken from the wild in Thailand and forcibly trained in farms to scurry up trees and harvest coconuts used to make coconut milk, meat, flour, oil, and other products.
According to PETA Asia, some farmers investigated were producing products that were eventually sold by Aroy-D and Chaokoh, two major Thai coconut milk producers.
Walmart-owned Asda said it was removing Aroy-D and Chaokoh-branded products from sale while it investigated the report with its suppliers.
“We expect our suppliers to uphold the highest production standards at all times and we will not tolerate any forms of animal abuse in our supply chain,” it said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for Sainsbury’s said it was actively reviewing its ranges and investigating the issue. “We are also in contact with PETA UK to support our investigations,” she said.
Conservationist Carrie Symonds, the fiancée of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, welcomed the move by the retailers and urged other UK stores to do the same.
https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeas ... ports-thai
British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Govt backs 'monkey business'
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... y-business
Envoys to watch primate pickers work
The Commerce Ministry, coconut farmers and monkey school owners have dismissed claims by an animal rights group that monkeys trained to pick coconuts were maltreated and announced plans to take foreign diplomats on a visit to see the monkeys at work for themselves.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, permanent secretary for commerce, said the monkey owners did not abuse or exploit the animals which have been humanely trained to pick coconuts.
"However, the ministry is ready to invite foreign diplomats to visit coconut plantations and see how the monkeys pick coconuts so they will realise this is not animal cruelty [as claimed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta)],'' Mr Boonyarit said.
He also said he has instructed commercial attaches in Thai embassies overseas to provide an explanation to retailers in foreign countries.
He added the ministry will also discuss the issue with the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry to find further solutions.
Pramual Pongthawaradej, a Democrat Party MP for Prachuap Khiri Khan, who chairs a House subcommittee tackling the falling price of coconuts, said the group has asked operators of coconut milk plants to justify their practices to Peta.
The subcommittee has also asked the Department of Agriculture to give details regarding the use of monkeys to pick coconuts, Mr Pramual said.
Somjai Sae Kow, the owner of a school which trains the monkeys in Surat Thani's Kanchanadit district, said the practice of capturing monkeys from the wild to pick coconuts ceased a long time ago.
Currently, monkeys are bred and raised before being trained, Ms Somjai said. She also denied claims the monkeys are forced to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day, adding the monkeys do not work every day.
Coconut-picking monkeys are mostly males and their abilities vary, she said, adding the owner of the monkey receives 2 baht per a coconut picked.
"Foreigners may not understand our livelihood. Also, humans are not built to climb up a coconut tree to pick fruit. They will be at risk, compared to monkeys which have the natural ability to do so," she said.
Chaowalit Chusaneh, an owner of coconut-picking monkeys in Surat Thani's Muang district, brushed aside claims of inhumane treatment.
"The current batch of monkeys working for us were bred from previous generations.
"There is no cruelty. Actually, they are looked after well. They are fed well with rice, milk, and fruit three times a day. They are treated like family members,'' Mr Chaowalit said.
Major western retailers have begun to pull Thai coconut products from their shelves amid allegations the coconuts were picked by poorly treated monkeys.
According to Peta, the monkeys are snatched from the wild and trained to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day.
The animal rights group said pigtailed macaques in Thailand were treated like "coconut-picking machines".
Peta said monkeys were used by farms that supply some of Thailand's coconut milk brands, which are exported to many countries in Europe and the United States.
"Following Peta Asia's investigation, more than 15,000 stores will no longer purchase these brands' products, with the majority also no longer buying any coconut products sourced from Thailand monkey labour," the group said on its website on Saturday.
In the UK, Waitrose, Ocado, the Co-op and Boots all vowed to stop selling certain Thai coconut products, the BBC reported.
A spokesman for retail giant Tesco told the BBC: "Our own-brand coconut milk and coconut water does not use monkey labour in its production and we don't sell any of the branded products identified by Peta.
"We don't tolerate these practices and would remove any product from sale that is known to have used monkey labour during its production."
The Morrisons chain said it had removed products made with monkey-picked coconuts from its shelves.
Sainsbury's told the BBC: "We are actively reviewing our ranges and investigating this complex issue with our suppliers."
Peta said it had found eight farms in Thailand where monkeys were forced to pick coconuts for export.
Male monkeys are able to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day, Peta says. It's thought that a human can pick about 80.
"Other coconut-growing regions -- including Brazil, Colombia and Hawaii -- harvest coconuts using humane methods such as tractor-mounted hydraulic elevators, willing human tree-climbers, rope or platform systems, or ladders, or they plant dwarf coconut trees," it said.
The group said it also discovered "monkey schools", where the animals were trained to pick fruit, as well as ride bikes or play basketball for the entertainment of tourists.
"The animals at these facilities -- many of whom are illegally captured as babies -- displayed stereotypic behaviour indicative of extreme stress," Peta said.
"Monkeys were chained to old tyres or confined to cages that were barely large enough for them to turn around in."
"One monkey in a cage on a lorry bed was seen frantically shaking the cage bars in a futile attempt to escape, and a screaming monkey on a rope desperately tried to run away from a handler.
"Peta is calling on decent people never to support the use of monkey labour by shunning coconut products from Thailand."
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... y-business
Envoys to watch primate pickers work
The Commerce Ministry, coconut farmers and monkey school owners have dismissed claims by an animal rights group that monkeys trained to pick coconuts were maltreated and announced plans to take foreign diplomats on a visit to see the monkeys at work for themselves.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, permanent secretary for commerce, said the monkey owners did not abuse or exploit the animals which have been humanely trained to pick coconuts.
"However, the ministry is ready to invite foreign diplomats to visit coconut plantations and see how the monkeys pick coconuts so they will realise this is not animal cruelty [as claimed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta)],'' Mr Boonyarit said.
He also said he has instructed commercial attaches in Thai embassies overseas to provide an explanation to retailers in foreign countries.
He added the ministry will also discuss the issue with the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry to find further solutions.
Pramual Pongthawaradej, a Democrat Party MP for Prachuap Khiri Khan, who chairs a House subcommittee tackling the falling price of coconuts, said the group has asked operators of coconut milk plants to justify their practices to Peta.
The subcommittee has also asked the Department of Agriculture to give details regarding the use of monkeys to pick coconuts, Mr Pramual said.
Somjai Sae Kow, the owner of a school which trains the monkeys in Surat Thani's Kanchanadit district, said the practice of capturing monkeys from the wild to pick coconuts ceased a long time ago.
Currently, monkeys are bred and raised before being trained, Ms Somjai said. She also denied claims the monkeys are forced to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day, adding the monkeys do not work every day.
Coconut-picking monkeys are mostly males and their abilities vary, she said, adding the owner of the monkey receives 2 baht per a coconut picked.
"Foreigners may not understand our livelihood. Also, humans are not built to climb up a coconut tree to pick fruit. They will be at risk, compared to monkeys which have the natural ability to do so," she said.
Chaowalit Chusaneh, an owner of coconut-picking monkeys in Surat Thani's Muang district, brushed aside claims of inhumane treatment.
"The current batch of monkeys working for us were bred from previous generations.
"There is no cruelty. Actually, they are looked after well. They are fed well with rice, milk, and fruit three times a day. They are treated like family members,'' Mr Chaowalit said.
Major western retailers have begun to pull Thai coconut products from their shelves amid allegations the coconuts were picked by poorly treated monkeys.
According to Peta, the monkeys are snatched from the wild and trained to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day.
The animal rights group said pigtailed macaques in Thailand were treated like "coconut-picking machines".
Peta said monkeys were used by farms that supply some of Thailand's coconut milk brands, which are exported to many countries in Europe and the United States.
"Following Peta Asia's investigation, more than 15,000 stores will no longer purchase these brands' products, with the majority also no longer buying any coconut products sourced from Thailand monkey labour," the group said on its website on Saturday.
In the UK, Waitrose, Ocado, the Co-op and Boots all vowed to stop selling certain Thai coconut products, the BBC reported.
A spokesman for retail giant Tesco told the BBC: "Our own-brand coconut milk and coconut water does not use monkey labour in its production and we don't sell any of the branded products identified by Peta.
"We don't tolerate these practices and would remove any product from sale that is known to have used monkey labour during its production."
The Morrisons chain said it had removed products made with monkey-picked coconuts from its shelves.
Sainsbury's told the BBC: "We are actively reviewing our ranges and investigating this complex issue with our suppliers."
Peta said it had found eight farms in Thailand where monkeys were forced to pick coconuts for export.
Male monkeys are able to pick up to 1,000 coconuts a day, Peta says. It's thought that a human can pick about 80.
"Other coconut-growing regions -- including Brazil, Colombia and Hawaii -- harvest coconuts using humane methods such as tractor-mounted hydraulic elevators, willing human tree-climbers, rope or platform systems, or ladders, or they plant dwarf coconut trees," it said.
The group said it also discovered "monkey schools", where the animals were trained to pick fruit, as well as ride bikes or play basketball for the entertainment of tourists.
"The animals at these facilities -- many of whom are illegally captured as babies -- displayed stereotypic behaviour indicative of extreme stress," Peta said.
"Monkeys were chained to old tyres or confined to cages that were barely large enough for them to turn around in."
"One monkey in a cage on a lorry bed was seen frantically shaking the cage bars in a futile attempt to escape, and a screaming monkey on a rope desperately tried to run away from a handler.
"Peta is calling on decent people never to support the use of monkey labour by shunning coconut products from Thailand."
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
When I was in Singapore back in the mid-60's, the government gave monkeys, trained to collect coconuts, to the Singapore farmers. I've seen them at work and it certainly didn't appear to be abuse. The monkeys always returned to their owner like a pet.
Is this just another soap box for the Animal Rights mob.
'Animal Place' a farm sanctuary in the states were one of the first to report this abuse although in their own admission, they have never actually visited a farm using monkeys.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... monkeys%3F
NB: A couple of posts got ahead of me.
Of course there will always be some abuse when using animals. Some dog owners should never be allowed to own a dog.Thailand has been raising and training pigtailed macaques to pick coconuts for around 400 years. Coconut farmers in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India and other countries in the region sometimes rely on monkeys, too.
Why monkeys? Turns out a male monkey can collect an average of 1,600 coconuts per day and a female can get 600, while a human can only collect around 80 per day. It's also safer for a scampering, height-savvy monkey to pluck and drop the fruit from the trees — up to 80 feet tall — than a human, according to the National Primate Research Center at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Monkeys pick 99 percent of the Thai coconuts sold for their oil and flesh.
Schroevers runs the Monkey Training School in Surat Thani, Thailand, a Buddhist-inspired school founded 50 years ago to teach monkeys how to pick coconuts without the use of force or violence. He says Animal Place has it all wrong when it comes to how most monkeys that work on coconut farms are treated.
"It is always relaxed, no shouting, no punishing," he says. "Every few trees the monkey hugs his owner, who then checks the monkey for red ants (who live in the trees) and the monkey gets a massage. Outside working hours the monkeys are kept as a pet (only for the family owners, to strangers they are not friendly)."
Others familiar with the coconut-picking monkeys of Thailand are also skeptical of the allegations of abuse. Leslie Sponsel is a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Hawaii who, with his wife, Dr. Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel, studied monkey-human relationships in Thailand and published papers on the topic.
"During our time in southern Thailand, we never observed or heard of cruelty or abuse of the monkeys," Sponsel says. "Indeed, the monkeys are very similar to family pets, and for some households, even like family members to some degree.
Is this just another soap box for the Animal Rights mob.
'Animal Place' a farm sanctuary in the states were one of the first to report this abuse although in their own admission, they have never actually visited a farm using monkeys.
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/20 ... monkeys%3F
NB: A couple of posts got ahead of me.
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... y-businessThe Commerce Ministry, coconut farmers and monkey school owners have dismissed claims by an animal rights group that monkeys trained to pick coconuts were maltreated and announced plans to take foreign diplomats on a visit to see the monkeys at work for themselves.
Boonyarit Kalayanamit, permanent secretary for commerce, said the monkey owners did not abuse or exploit the animals which have been humanely trained to pick coconuts.
"However, the ministry is ready to invite foreign diplomats to visit coconut plantations and see how the monkeys pick coconuts so they will realise this is not animal cruelty [as claimed by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta)],'' Mr Boonyarit said.
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Pity there isn't so much concern in the UK about human rights and other abuses here, such as enforced slavery, abuse of cheap labour, Thai justice and false imprisonment, the use of banned pesticides, slash and burn and pollution and damage to the environment, the junta and so on.
Monkey's lives matter, humans don't.
The World has gone feckin' mad.
Monkey's lives matter, humans don't.
The World has gone feckin' mad.
Talk is cheap
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barrys
- Legend
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- Location: Enjoying the sea air on a boat around Pak Nam Pran
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
I remember when I lived in a small village in Khon Kaen province nearly 20 years ago. A guy would turn up on a motorsi with his monkey riding pillion. They would stay for a few days and pick everyone's coconuts. After finishing one, the monkey would jump on the motorsi itself and off they'd go to the next one. Never saw a chain and the monkey looked like he was having a great time, even aiming one at you if he felt like having a bit of fun......
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handdrummer
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Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals
What about: race horses, sled dogs, trained animals, etc. They could all be replaced by people and paid $15 pr. hr., to help with the unemployment situation.
What good are animals? They can't vote or donate to political parties, nor speak proper English.
What about: race horses, sled dogs, trained animals, etc. They could all be replaced by people and paid $15 pr. hr., to help with the unemployment situation.
What good are animals? They can't vote or donate to political parties, nor speak proper English.
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
oxen plowing fields,
sheepdogs herding livestock,
rottweilers guarding houses
police dogs trained to catch villains,
beagles sniffing for drugs in airports.
working elephants (before the ban on commercial logging)
And of course their are many more........
sheepdogs herding livestock,
rottweilers guarding houses
police dogs trained to catch villains,
beagles sniffing for drugs in airports.
working elephants (before the ban on commercial logging)
And of course their are many more........
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Never seen coconut picking or any other monkeys ill treated on the contrary, these people should come and see by themselves and also go to Lopburi and watch how monkeys behave !!!!!
Also they should first look in their own countries about welfare of humans, children in particular, and how they are treated before sticking their nose in other places which they probably haven't even visited
Also they should first look in their own countries about welfare of humans, children in particular, and how they are treated before sticking their nose in other places which they probably haven't even visited
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
THAI COCONUT FARMERS DENY PETA ANIMAL CRUELTY CHARGE
Coconut farmers in southern Thailand on Wednesday denied the allegation by a U.S.-based animal rights group that monkeys are forced to harvest their crops.
Media reports say some British retail chains already pull Thai coconut products off their shelves after a video posted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, shows monkeys being chained and ordered to climb up coconut trees. But local farmers said the animals are treated with respect as part of their culture.
“The use of monkeys doesn’t go against their will,” Singha Nusui, a coconut grower in Trang, said. “They know their duties, if they are tired, they will stop. No one forces them to do it. Monkeys usually climb up trees, so we are using the right animal on the right job.
He added, “There’s no such cruelty here.” Singha’s hometown, Trang, is famous for its coconut orchards and a tradition of monkeys working as coconut harvesters.
According to PETA, monkeys were separated from their families and forced to collect up to 1,000 coconuts per day. The animals are used by farms supplying Thailand’s best-known coconut milk brands, Aroy-D and Chaokoh, which were exported to the U.S. and European countries, the group said.
PETA also said monkeys are “driven to depression” because of the harsh conditions.
“The terrified young monkeys are forced to perform frustrating and difficult tasks, such as twisting heavy coconuts until they fall off the trees from a great height,” the group said. “Denied the freedom to move around, socialize with others, or do anything else that is important to them, these intelligent animals slowly lose their minds.”
Monkeys are recognized by coconut farmers across the country for their nimble ability to climb coconut trees and pick up the fruits. The animals are also cheaper than hiring humans for the same job, Trang farmer Sa-ngiam Charoensuk said.
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... ty-charge/
Coconut farmers in southern Thailand on Wednesday denied the allegation by a U.S.-based animal rights group that monkeys are forced to harvest their crops.
Media reports say some British retail chains already pull Thai coconut products off their shelves after a video posted by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, shows monkeys being chained and ordered to climb up coconut trees. But local farmers said the animals are treated with respect as part of their culture.
“The use of monkeys doesn’t go against their will,” Singha Nusui, a coconut grower in Trang, said. “They know their duties, if they are tired, they will stop. No one forces them to do it. Monkeys usually climb up trees, so we are using the right animal on the right job.
He added, “There’s no such cruelty here.” Singha’s hometown, Trang, is famous for its coconut orchards and a tradition of monkeys working as coconut harvesters.
According to PETA, monkeys were separated from their families and forced to collect up to 1,000 coconuts per day. The animals are used by farms supplying Thailand’s best-known coconut milk brands, Aroy-D and Chaokoh, which were exported to the U.S. and European countries, the group said.
PETA also said monkeys are “driven to depression” because of the harsh conditions.
“The terrified young monkeys are forced to perform frustrating and difficult tasks, such as twisting heavy coconuts until they fall off the trees from a great height,” the group said. “Denied the freedom to move around, socialize with others, or do anything else that is important to them, these intelligent animals slowly lose their minds.”
Monkeys are recognized by coconut farmers across the country for their nimble ability to climb coconut trees and pick up the fruits. The animals are also cheaper than hiring humans for the same job, Trang farmer Sa-ngiam Charoensuk said.
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... ty-charge/
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
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europtimiste
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Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Pigs searching truffles
Red fish in a bowl
Birds in cages at home
Double standard, acceptable for westerners, RACISM.
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handdrummer
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Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
RACISM.
Next week the animals will out in the streets protesting and eventually it will turn into rioting and looting. The police have been ordered to hold their fire and not use choke holds on the animals.
Next week the animals will out in the streets protesting and eventually it will turn into rioting and looting. The police have been ordered to hold their fire and not use choke holds on the animals.
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Animal rights? Every time I make a video call to my home in Thailand, my dogs and cat are asleep in a sala in the garden whilst I have to go to work to be able to send money to buy food for them!
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
This incident appears to be politically driven since the leak came from the British embassy - apparently, it has f-all to do with monkeys or coconuts!
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: British stores remove Thai coconut products after reports of monkey labour
Excellent news, as I'd hoped, the British government are finally imposing sanctions on the corrupt bunch of baboons that are decimating this once lovely country.
Bring it on, more please.
It's about time someone from the 1st world did this.
Too long, the virulent, vile corruption has gone on unchecked from foreign 1st world countries.
They now need to arrest or deport the murdering red bull kid.
I'd often thought and hoped this was a snub from the British government....well done!!!