A group of hungry wild monkeys rampaged through a village to search for food in southern Thailand.

More than 20 long-tailed macaques emerged from a nearby beach forest when the starving animals could no longer find snacks in Trang province.

The starving primates tore through garbage bins and rummage through parked tuk-tuks to find something to eat before causing trouble for residents when they entered properties to steal food out of desperation.

After almost two months of staying in the village, the locals have filed a complaint to government officials to help them sort out their monkey problem.

Restaurant owner Sinchai Chandaeng, 78, said: ‘Those monkeys often go through our guests’ belongings and steal their food.’

The animals first migrated from nearby Yong Ling Beach into the village in April and have been living in the area since then, to the dismay of locals.

They used to have enough food in their habitat from tourists handing them snacks but as the pandemic prolonged the closure of the beach the animals grew hungry.

Now the long-tailed monkey’s population continue to significantly increase with an annual birth rate of two juveniles per female.

A government agency study showed that tourists feeding monkeys were one of the key factors resulting to overpopulation as most food that they consumed had a high quantity of carbohydrates causing a change in their eating habits and a higher sexual drive.

Officials are now considering creating a ‘monkey colony’ project or moving the animals to an island over the past two years as an alternative to the mass sterilisation.