Police are hunting an aggressive wild monkey seen attacking CHILDREN in Thailand.

The macaque was caught on CCTV prowling through a village before pouncing on a five-year-old girl sitting outside the family home in Satun, southern Thailand.

Footage shows how the beast dragged the youngster Nong Klangjai under the wooden building and repeatedly hit her. The youngster's frantic mother heard her screaming and tried to scare away the monkey but it brazenly walked around the yard.

She suffered cuts from the unprovoked assault by the primate, which slapped and bit her. She was taken to the hospital to be checked before being released without any lasting damage.

Wildlife officers are local cops are now hunting the ferocious monkey amid fears it could strike again in the neighbourhood.

Alongkorn Sirikul, council chief in the Khuan Don district, said a monkey trap has been installed in the villagers' palm orchard. A team has also been deployed to tranquilise the fugitive monkey.

Alongkorn Sirikul said: ‘Catching the monkey is not an easy task since we have limited resources. We managed to get close to it the day before, but it was too fast. The district office should come and help us catch it and free it somewhere else.

‘The macaque looks like those used to climbing coconut trees, based on the villagers' description. It's now living in the wild and is dangerous.'

Authorities have instructed residents in the boundary area of Yan Sue Subdistrict and Khuan Don Subdistrict in Satun province to stay indoors as much as possible as the male monkey continues to wreak havoc.

The animal first attacked the five-year-old girl, seen in the CCTV video, while she was playing outside her home in a rubber orchard on August 26.

The shocking assault was captured on video, with the macaque bearing down on the hapless toddler before dragging her beneath the house as she screamed in terror. The animal reportedly slapped and bit the child repeatedly before her mum arrived and drove it away. Still, the primate stayed menacingly outside the house, seemingly waiting for another chance to strike.

At least 10 other villagers have also reported being assaulted by the same monkey, with three of them currently recovering in a hospital.

One victim, Fareeda Usnun, 22, showed officers the bruises and bite marks inflicted by the violent creature which is still on the loose. She bore painful-looking scratches and bruises on her hands, arms, and wrists from fending off the simian thug.

She said: ‘I was helping my mother in the rubber orchard when it all happened. The monkey leapt at me from behind and bit my right leg and left arm. The creature was even bigger than a 12-litre water bottle.

‘I remember screaming in pain as my mother came running with a stick. After what happened, my family and I have not set foot in the rubber orchard.'

Residents have been instructed to keep watch over their children while also keeping doors and windows shut at all times. Many of them said they are afraid to go outdoors alone.