Monkey Buffet Festival 2026: Lopburi's 4,000kg Feast for Macaques
Every year on the last Sunday of November, the ancient Khmer temple of Prang Sam Yot in Lopburi hosts a banquet for its most demanding residents: several hundred long-tailed macaques. Over 4,000 kilograms of fruit, vegetables, and Thai sweets are arranged on elaborate serving tables — complete with ice sculptures and colourful decorations — and then the monkeys descend. What follows is controlled chaos: macaques swarming over watermelons, fighting over corn cobs, and ignoring the photographers entirely. In 2026, the Monkey Buffet Festival falls on November 29.
The festival was started in 1989 by a local hotelier named Yongyuth Kitwatananusont, who reasoned that the macaques bring tourists to Lopburi and therefore deserve a thank-you feast. He was right — the event now draws thousands of visitors and substantial media coverage. The monkeys of Lopburi are famous year-round (the town’s population of around 3,000 macaques roams freely through the streets, temples, and shops), but the buffet concentrates the spectacle into a single morning.
The festivities begin around 10 AM with a brief ceremony and traditional Thai dance performance, followed by the unveiling of the food tables. The monkeys need no invitation — they are already waiting. The feast lasts roughly two hours, during which the macaques eat, fight, hoard, and occasionally steal sunglasses and phones from unwary tourists. The event takes place in front of and around Prang Sam Yot, a striking 13th-century Khmer prang (tower) that would be worth visiting even without the primates.
Lopburi is 150 kilometres north of Bangkok — about two hours by train from Hua Lamphong (now Krung Thep Aphiwat) station, making it an easy day trip. Arrive by 9 AM to get a good position near the tables. Guard your belongings carefully: the monkeys are bold, fast, and experienced thieves. Avoid carrying open food, dangling jewellery, or anything shiny. Wear closed shoes (monkeys occasionally bite toes in sandals), and do not attempt to pet or hand-feed them — these are wild animals with sharp teeth and zero manners.