By Tim Binnall
A jaw-dropping video from Thailand provides a chilling example of how the coronavirus has spawned chaos in unexpected ways as it shows an enormous group of monkeys accustomed to eating handouts from tourists now forced to fight over a meager scrap of food. The unsettling scene was reportedly filmed this week in the city of Lopburi. Usually a prime destination for visitors from around the world, the location has become a veritable ghost town due to the concerns over the pandemic.
Due to the downturn in tourism, the area's resident monkey population, which numbers in the thousands, has grown increasingly hungry as was evident in the unnerving incident filmed by stunned onlooker Sasaluk Rattanachai. In her video, the deprived primates can be seen roaming the streets by the hundreds in an apparent search for sustenance. Although it's hard to discern exactly what one of the monkeys wound up finding to eat, its meal does not last very long as the creature is soon swarmed by the other starving animals in a truly terrifying turn of events.
"They looked more like wild dogs than monkeys," Rattanachai marveled, "they went crazy for the single piece of food. I've never seen them this aggressive." One can only hope that similar showdowns do not erupt at local grocery stores across America once the initial stockpiles of toilet paper and other hoarded sundries that people have acquired over the last few days begin to dwindle in the weeks to come.