A coconut farmer has shown how he climbs trees without abusing monkeys following condemnation by animal rights groups over the practice.

Saengsil Hubsupha, 49, demonstrated with metal-framed seat used for scaling palm trees after the charity PETA criticised the industry for using monkeys to pick the fruits in Thailand.

Footage shows Saengsil and him team climbing the trees on his orchard in Trang, southern Thailand, yesterday morning (July 7).

Saengsil said the method is cheaper than using monkeys, which are expensive to buy, train and care for.

He said: ''Normally, if the coconut is not more than 32ft high, workers with the climbing tools can gather the fruit.

"However, when the fruits are above 32ft from the ground, monkeys can be hired and they do a much better job and retrieve the coconuts. They can get them in ten seconds.

Saengsil said that he doesn't use monkeys as they are too expensive.

He said: "The price for a monkey is not cheap, while the cost to treat their injuries and pay for vets is far more expensive.

"I believe that most orchard owners would not want to risk spending money a monkey just to have them climb up a tree. If they do keep them, they have a strong bond with them.

"As far as I know, the monkeys were all cared for like they part of their owner's family.''

Shocking footage obtained by PETA showed the barbaric training methods endured by the primates to teach them how to retrieve the foods.

The criticism lead to a number of UK retailers distance themselves from coconut products obtained from Thailand.

Ministers in the country responded by claiming the use of monkeys was similar to ''pigs collecting truffles''.