A six-year-old boy in Thailand’s Nakhon Si Thammarat province died after he was attacked by his grandfather’s pet monkey, sparking concern in a country where exotic animals are often kept as companions.
Nathan Ekkarat Srichan was walking alone to his grandfather’s grocery shop on Saturday morning when the fatal attack happened, the Thairath newspaper reported.
Unaware of the danger, he came near the monkey, which was tied to two trees between the store and the house. The animal suddenly grabbed him and started attacking him, biting him on the chest and leg several times. Its fangs punctured his lungs.
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He was rushed to Sichon Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him, according to the Khao Sod newspaper.
In Thailand, monkeys are usually trained to harvest coconuts, but the animal that attacked Nathan was reared as a companion animal.
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Nathan’s grandfather, Jaroon, had kept the long-tailed macaque as a pet since finding it in a forest as a baby in 2022. Believing that it had been separated from its mother, he took it home with him and has been caring for it ever since.
He named it Choke, meaning “luck” in Thai, Channel 7 reported.