Lopburi

The macaques own this town. They sit on the Khmer ruins like landlords. They swing from power lines, steal sunglasses from tourists, and commandeer entire shopfronts. Lopburi is what happens when an ancient city cedes its centre to long-tailed monkeys — and the humans just work around them.

Lopburi is a city in central Thailand with roots stretching back to the Dvaravati period, over a thousand years ago. Khmer-era ruins — particularly Prang Sam Yot, a 13th-century Hindu-Buddhist shrine — anchor the old town. But Lopburi's fame rests on its macaque population, which has colonised the ruins and surrounding streets in numbers estimated at several thousand. The annual Lopburi Monkey Banquet, held in November, lays a buffet of fruit and sweets for the macaques in the temple grounds — a surreal spectacle that draws both media and pilgrims. Behind the monkey chaos, a Narai-period palace and several lesser-visited temples reward those who look past the headline attraction.