Or, more accurately, macaques for the pedantic.
Nice sunny days, like today, during the rainy season are the ideal time to see troops of monkeys on Koh Chang. There’s very little traffic and they often come down to the main road on the stretch between Lonely Beach and Bailan to hang out. They are wild, so if you get too close to the younger ones or an adult male decides he doesn’t like the look of you, be prepared to walk away quickly. But aside from that a bit of monkey spotting is a fun,impromptu activity at this time of year.
I spent about 10 minutes sitting by the road a few metres from a group of younger ones who were happily munching on leaves and playing. Only a handful of vehicles came by during this time but that didn’t seem to bother them. The older adults were on the opposite side of the road on the phone lines keeping an eye on things. After a while a couple of primate security guards descended from the telephone lines and ushered me away.
In High Season the easiest places to get to to be pretty sure of seeing monkeys roadside near Siam Hut on Lonely Beach, where people gather early morning to throw fruit at them; and at the stretch of undeveloped land on White Sand beach – just north of Kacha Resort, in the afternoons, where, again, they know fruit will be tossed in their direction.
