Monkeys feast on finger food in Thailand

The town of Lopburi in Thailand celebrated its annual Monkey Festival laying out a lavish banquet for 3,000 long-tailed macaques to thank the monkeys for bringing tourists to the city.

Three tonnes of boiled eggs, fresh fruit, vegetables, Thai desserts, ice cream and jelly were put on tables around the town's two most sacred sites of Prang Sam Yod and the nearby shrine of San Pra Kan.

The monkeys roamed freely to the buffet tables, which cost about £10,000, to enjoy a pricey variety of fruits including pineapple, papaya and durian.

Locals believe that providing food for the monkeys, Lopburi's most famous residents, brings good fortune and prosperity.

"Although there were floods in Lopburi this year and the price for their food is quite expensive we still hold a buffet for them. We will continue hosting the banquet for them because my business is quite successful. We have been doing this for the past 21 years," said local hotelier Yongyuth Kitwatananuson.

Some monkeys were shy under the gaze of hundreds of tourists watching them climb over food and enjoying the fancy buffet. But others jumped onto the table without hesitation, stole food from each other and tossed the left overs onto the ground as human waiters offered them more food.

"It's very interesting. I've never seen so many monkeys. I've never seen anything like this," said American tourist Hannah Aosenfeld.