Hundreds of starving monkeys are stealing food from villages after Thailand's coronavirus tourism man ended their free meals.

The hungry primates ransacked the properties looking for food around the Tum kao-ii monastery in the Betong district of Yala province, southern Thailand.

Terrified locals said the monkeys had stolen food continuously for the last month, leaving them living in fear.

Footage shows the starving creatures suffering from extreme hunger rummaging through junk in search of waste food.

Monks at the monastery said they were obliged to feed the monkeys to prevent them from starving to death, but with limited funds, they have struggling to help them.

A Buddhist monk who resides in the monastery, Kampol Kasraj said: "We have been spending more than 10,000 baht a month to buy food for these poor monkeys. They have caused a lot of trouble to the community."

Before the Covid-19pandemic, tourists would visit the monastery and feed the monkeys with fruits and snacks but since the borders closed to new arrivals on March 22, the creatures have been forced to fight for their survival.

Earlier this week, more than 200 starving monkeys were sterilised in a national park in the nearby province Songkhla to control their population after causing trouble in the villages.

While in Lopburi province, hundreds of hungry monkeys were seen fighting over pieces of food in March after tourists stopped visiting the area. Officials later began sterilising them.