Lopburi, City of Monkeys
Lopburi is the famous city of monkeys in Thailand. In this article we will tell you where is the city of monkeys, how to find the famous temple with monkeys in it, when and how the famous manky fest is held!
A little history of Lopburi Monkey Town (this is necessary to understand what to see in the town)
Lopburi is the capital of the province of the same name in central Thailand (to get there see below). The city itself was founded in the 7th century AD by the people living in southern Burma. They created a very developed state, but then were absorbed by the Burmese. Accordingly, the city itself consists of a large number of ancient temples, the Palace of the King and other historical rarities. It would have been so, if in the 10th century the Cambodians did not come and destroyed the entire city. So at the moment – most of the ancient temples are just dots on the map (but we’ll talk about that below).
And yet, this city is worthy of a visit, because the only surviving temple is inhabited by hundreds of monkeys.
Temple with Monkeys
This monkey temple in Thailand is the main attraction of Lopburi. In fact, the town is very lucky as it is a frequent stop for tourist groups on their way to the River Kwai.
Monkeys in Thailand are not uncommon, they can be found on the beaches of Krabi, and on the military beach in Pattaya, but their number here strikes even longtime residents of Thailand. Near the temple there are at least a hundred and it is impossible not to see them.
In this city of monkeys can take great shots of the ancient temple, although the temple itself is small, and is located in the center of the city, but there are so many good angles, and the monkeys give more color
In fact, the name “City of Monkeys” is greatly exaggerated, because they run only within 50 meters of the temple. Farther away, they are chased very hard by food vendors and residents from whom these monkeys steal food, also there are many dogs to protect the houses and almost every window has solid bars on it.
But around the temple, the monkeys make total chaos. Ripped wires and torn pieces of tin from the roofs are little things.
Monkey Temple Entrance and Security Measures
There is a fee to enter the temple – 50 baht per person (as of summer 2014). Some say you can get a stick at the entrance to protect yourself from the monkeys, but we couldn’t find one.
Be sure to take something to protect yourself. Monkeys are very intrusive and unpredictable. They will definitely jump on you, and if you try to shake it off roughly – it can bite.
On the one hand it seems ridiculous, but when you have 3-4 monkeys hanging from your hair, a few more on your shirt and they stick their fingers everywhere they can reach – taking everything out of your pockets, trying to take food, stealing bags and cameras. I have a big post about monkey bites and how to deal with it.
For 50 baht you can hire a person to guard you =) Just offer them to the food vendor (they are always around).
If you were bitten, you need to go immediately to the hospital. (The good thing it is near and there are cab drivers at the entrance), as monkeys are carriers of disease (or can be tetanus from contamination of the wound). The cost of injections will cost 300 baht.
If you come by car – it is better not to park near the temple. They will tear off the car all they can tear off.
Nevertheless, the monkey temple is definitely worth a visit.
Video of the monkey temple
A short video to help you appreciate the atmosphere at the temple without the sun.
Beautiful pictures taken from a good angle are always interesting, but you have to imagine where you are going and what you will see. The panorama of the monkey temple in this video
How to get to Monkey Town
Lopburi is about 130 kilometers from Bangkok and 300 from Pattaya. It takes about 5 hours one way from Pattaya to reach Monkey Town by car.
At the moment the most convenient way is to check the public transport schedule on 12go.asia, it will show you all the prices, dates, buses and trains.
Below we will tell you what else to see in Lopburi, except the monkey temple, but our recommendation: 2 hours is enough to see the city. Therefore, the trip can be combined with Ayutthaya. It is the same destination and they are relatively close by.
A comfortable schedule is to leave Pattaya in the morning, drive straight to Lopburi via Bangkok, see it, and then go to Ayutthaya, spend the night there, take a shower, explore the city all day, and return to Pattaya in the evening. This is the best route.
Map of Monkey Town or what else to see in Lopburi
This is the official map of the city. All the temples are located in the left corner (by the little circle), on the right is the modern city. On all the main streets are tuk-tuks for 8 baht.
This is a tourist map, marked with an asterisk monkey temple
The rest of the attractions are in a state of deep reconstruction.
Most of the temples in principle closed, including the palace of King Naraya – XVII-XIX centuries. Tourists are not even stopped there, and the locals are studying you as well as you monkeys.
The city to walk around is not very comfortable (as any city in Asia), and the monkeys rarely go beyond the temple (50 meters from it), because they are chased by dogs and locals.
The most interesting thing in the city of monkeys is located near the river – there is real life of the Thai countryside.
Just walking through the streets of the mahout with an elephant. (Elephant trunk was dragging food from the dippers).
Local rivers with fish. (There are 2 different temples in these photos).
Life under the bridge.
The real rivers of Thailand! Seems scary, but it’s insanely scenic.
The city has its own pedestrian promenade
A little video of this gorgeous panorama:
All this in the old part of Monkey Town, Lopburi. Now let’s take a little walk through the new one.
It’s all about monkeys and the military! The Monkey Cafe, the Monkey Mall, the Monkey Hotel. Images of monkeys are everywhere.
There is also a big military base in the city, so there are a lot of military people. They train paratroopers here.
The funny thing is that all the enemies in the pictures are Europeans.
And, of course, the famous Thai advertising. Their commercials are such that you want to sit in the corner and cry. Everything is always very bad there.
Where to sleep in the city of monkeys Lopburi
Lopburi Monkey Town, though small, is touristy. There are only 1 or 2 hotels in the bunkering, but in fact there are many more.
There is a great gesture right next to the monkey temple.
I have not been in the rooms, but the prices are good. Maybe someone could use the phone. Rooms are always there, as there are very few overnighters – almost all passing through.
Lopburi – a little Jumanji in the city of monkeys.
There is a small town just outside Bangkok called Lop Buri, also called the City of Monkeys. We wanted to check if there are really as many monkeys as they say and feed the animals.
I do not know how it happened, but for a long time in the city monkeys are respected, and they feel quite at ease. In general, in Southeast Asia there is a popular cult of Hanuman, the worship of a monkey-like deity that came from India.
Just across from the station is a kind of dilapidated temple, just like in Ayutthaya, where we came from by train.
Temple in front of the train station
Interesting that the hotels in the city are both with and without bars on the windows (so to speak for the thrill), and seeing a whole quarter of buildings with barred windows, we were anticipating a meeting with the main symbols of the city.
Funny, it looks like a zoo in reverse, with people living in cages and monkeys living outside trying to get in and out, so the windows can’t be opened.
As it turned out during the walk, the monkeys in Lopburi not so much, they mainly gather at several temples, above all Prang Sam Yot and the temple opposite it Phra Kan Shrine. There was a feeding party at the second temple and a lot of them gathered there.
Prang Sam Yot Temple
Lopburi Monkey Town
Then in a united rush, they ran off in one direction, not looking at any passing cars or people. It looks like someone found a game of Jumanji, rolled the dice, and now fantasy is going on.
Just in the area adjacent to the main animal habitat Prang Sam Yot, people book hotels with bars on the windows, there it is absolutely necessary 
And in the rest of the city there are few or no monkeys.
Monkeys climb on numerous Thai wires, beg food from tourists and locals, have fun and play, in general they do all the usual things. The locals treat them quite indulgently and as if they do not pay any attention – they are used to it. Some have got a slingshot in their pockets to guard the store (he shot at us once!), some have got a bamboo stick outside the door :-).
The monkey spotted us – he’s wondering if there’s anything to eat.
Mothers walking around with their babies.
Mama monkey with her babies.
By the way, a subspecies of these monkeys is called crab-eating macaques. A frightening name! In general, however, they are harmless, if not to give any reason for aggression.
– First of all, you must behave calmly, do not make any sudden movements, keep your distance, after all, these are wild animals.
– Don’t carry all kinds of bags in your hands and don’t eat in front of them – they will come to steal, beg or take away
– Try not to smile at them, monkeys take teeth as a sign of aggression.
– Stay away from the large males.
They advise to be careful with your camera, there were cases when monkeys snatched equipment, they did not show interest in ours.
We walked through Lopburi a little beyond the main monkey temple – wandered into a small local market. We found a nice tricolor cat, which was lying right on the counter in the oranges. Anya certainly squeezed it to the delight of all passing by Thais and the owner of the stall :-).
Still Life “A cat in oranges”.
Lopburi – how to get to the city of monkeys?
Lopburi is located close to the Thai capital, so many people combine a trip here with Ayutthaya. It seemed to us that it is very fast, and we allocated 1.5 days for Ayutthaya, and a few hours for Lopburi. I don’t think there’s anything else to do there.
The city is located on the northern branch of the Thai railroads, as well as Ayutthaya, so it is convenient to get to Bangkok by train from Hualampong railway station, especially in the center of the Thai capital. There are a lot of trains, and the fare costs 28 baht in a seated carriage class 3.
You can also take a bus from the northern bus station Mo Chit for 100 baht. Although it is faster than the train, but the bus station in Lopburi is far from the interesting places with monkeys.
You may also be interested in our other articles about animals and zoos:
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