On a hill near the center of Songkhla lives a colony of monkeys.
These funny, mischievous little bastards wander the surrounding streets hoping someone will feed them — and their hopes are usually fulfilled, as the locals still remember the pandemic times, when the macaques, lacking food they had usually had from travelers, became a danger for local people.
4:30 pm, a farang with a huge camera appears at the intersection. He feels hot, lazy, and sweaty, and he hopes this evil circus will show something special that will reward his persistence. He wipes the sweat from his face and begins to observe what is happening around him.
A hunchbacked lady is trying to break a street lamp, jumping on it as if possessed by demons.
A monkey teen is practicing on a palm tree.
A lone monkey, exploring a building...
I admire the ones who go off to explore buildings
alone or in pairs. Most macaques can’t imagine themselves outside the group — they constantly quarrel with one another, yet they also seem to have an unending need to touch their kin, groom each other’s fur, or at least hold someone’s tail. But monkey explorers seem different.
They’re not alpha males, who revel in dominance and control, being in the middle of crowd. Explorers have more refined personalities.
If I wanted to try making a friend among macaques, I would choose one of the explorers - they can see and understand more deeply.
What could be better than
picking parasites from a friend's fur? Especially in the evening, after a whole day of squabbles and fights — there’s something so satisfying about popping a louse with your fingernails - or teeth - or swallowing it. It doesn't matter what you do with the louse - everything is AWESOME!
If fleas didn't exist, they should be invented - that's what any monkey would tell you after a shot or two of Thai whisky.
Brute
A child, yet already knows how to give an evil look. Lol.
In the meantime, we have arrived at the main scene of the post.
This:
They were peacefully spending time together when one of the boys decided to mate. However, his friend got mad about that since he believed this girl was his fiancée (obviously):
Friendship is cracking.
The female ended up in the middle like if she wanted to prevent a real fight. But it didn't help much:
One of the boys was threatening another to bite his face off - it was super scary for the monkey, but, despite this, he didn't let the rival take his rightful fiancée.
The female, meanwhile, felt tired and bored, and actually upset - she desperately wanted to look for lice in someone's fur and crush a couple of fat nits with her small shiny black nails. And instead of a pleasant evening, she is dealing with this havoc.
Luckily, a human slammed a car door nearby, which attracted the monkeys' attention:
The rumble reminded them of the threat humans pose and the food they bring. This paradox captured the boys' thoughts — the rivals froze, trying to make sense of the puzzle, and soon forgot about their quarrel. Thus, the friendship between the three mischievous clowns was renewed.
All photos were taken with a Nikkor 70-300mm on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 by the author in March 2025, in Songkhla, Thailand
This post has been shared on Reddit by @x-rain through the HivePosh initiative.
Ohhh, you're in the monkey 🐒 world! Haha, I know exactly how they behave. They have high standards for nit hunting. It's part of their pastime and tasty snacks, and they get frustrated if they can't find any.
The monkey I mentioned in your previous post used to search for nits in kids' hair, and he loved anyone who had them. With his fast little fingers, he could find nits in no time. Some nitty kids actually found it therapeutic, so they would queue up for him like it was spa time. All you had to do was lean your head near him, and he'd start searching.
One day, I had the courage to let him run his fingers through my hair. I was enjoying it, but he got frustrated when he couldn't find anything. He grabbed my hair tightly and tugged so hard I ended up shouting for help. Haha.
Great shots, by the way, of those cheeky monkeys. Your photo brought back so many memories!
Wow, so lovely... I've never had this service, probably, it's a must... I mean, from the point of experiencing other species, it's amazing. But a wild macaque is dirty so I need to meet a more civilized one. 😄
😁 Okay, that's the macaque nature, that's how they do. 😄 I had an amazing experience with the dusky leaf monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus) - the complete opposite of macaques. I met them in Thailand many times at some place where they came from the forest in the evening to get food from people (corn, banana, etc) as an addition to their tree foliage diet. I took pictures, fed them many times, and one day they asked me (by means of the body language) if they could ride me - they were sitting on a tree above me. I didn't mind so they climbed down from the branches - two of them - and sat down on my shoulders. 😀 It was an amazing experience! When I got tired of their weight, I squatted down and the monkeys understood this immediately - they climbed down from me to the ground and went to the nearest tree. All this was done so carefully, even tenderly, as if they thought I was made of paper. Real fairy tale creatures with unbelievably great manners.
Thank you for sharing that experience; it warmed my heart. 😊🩷
This is a nice post about animal behavior nowadays. I have seen these red-faced monkeys many times in India. They are more aggressive than the black ones, but when they come in groups, their activities are similar. good shots.:)
Rhesus macaques! Very close relatives of the crab-eating macaques (in the images).
Thank you, @hindavi!
Wow! The monkey's expressions are hilarious, especially the "evil look" on the little one. I feel like I've learned so much about monkey behaviors.
😀
Macaques prefer this way of looking. They are hilarious but, when you are among them, you feel like "what a ghetto", lol.
Wow!! :)
!discovery 30
Thank you, @delilhavores!
At the end of the story, they pose very beautifully 😅 like a harmonious family even though they just finished a world war.
😄 Yes, that's their nature - they quarrel all the time but forget about it just as quickly.
Hahaha
So much monkey drama in Songkhla. I rushed down to start reading immediately I saw the title. The interesting thing to me in all these is on how you caught all the drama going on between the last three monkeys. I felt like I was watching a real drama. It’s so hilarious
😄 Glad you liked the scene. I believe these boys might have a connection with each other - they could be friends when they were kids. Macaques can be cruel and sometimes even bite each other - they don't mind causing pain, they can beat up baby monkeys - aggressive animals. And here I saw only a drama between monkeys who couldn't imagine hurting each other. I was quite lucky to witness this.
Yea
I was a precious scene really and the fact that every picture you took told the tale well. It’s like they were shooting a movie scene with you unknowingly. I like it😁🥰
Makes me think about how some of us teens also feel the need to break away from the group sometimes and just do our own thing.
I am an adult and often feel the same 😀
Thank you for the comment! 🙂
It is as if monkeys are the real owners of the city and humans are their guests
You catched a nice spectacle there lol
!PIZZA
😀 Yes, they are masters of this part of the city.
Thank you!
Wow, I’ve never thought of monkeys like this! They have their own little communities and dramas. You really made it clear how much like us they are. Definitely a fun read!
Yes, macaques are drama experts 😀 Glad you like the read!
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Now, we're talking. This is why I pay my internet bill. Monkey business!
Great sequence of dramatic shots. Literally, wild.
Lovely! Here are cases of monkeys that rob houses due to human invasion of their habitat... but they are so cute!
Monkeys on the urban wires somehow clicks me very much. Thats touchy!
Awesome captures, all of the set.
!BEER
😊 Thank you! Same here, never tired of watching monkeys in the city! 😎🥂
I invited all of my family to watch the photos - they were excited, especially my daughter, so - triple thank you! will surely wait for more photo-posts of same stuff to follow.
❤️ Спасибки! 😊