Thousands of startled monkeys scrambled for cover during a fireworks display at an annual festival in Thailand.

Throngs of the normally aggressive creatures stampeded across the road as pyrotechnics lit up the sky for this year's Monkey Feast Festival which kicked off on November 27 in Lopburi province.

The animals, some with their young in tow, caused traffic chaos when they fled from the sharp blasts thundering during festivities just outside the Phra Prang Sam Yot temple.

Motorists had to stop and wait for the large troop of panicked primates to cross before carrying on driving.

The festival is held yearly, with a thanksgiving buffet offered to the city's simian denizens for their help in boosting local tourism.

This year, they were served a feast of delicious fruits and vegetables like durian, cherries, and blueberries.

Yongyuth Kitwatanusont, head of the province's Chinese Monkey Banquet association, told reporters: "This monkey feast festival is a successful event that helps promote Lopburi's tourism among international tourists every year. Previously, there were about 300 monkeys in Lopburi before increasing to nearly 4,000 nowadays. But Lopburi is known as a monkey city, which means monkeys and people can live in harmony".

However, these wild animals are sometimes seen as pests, committing petty theft against tourists while littering the pavements and sidewalks with excrement.

Thailand has been trying to control the surging monkey population since before the pandemic started. Officials had even begun sterilising large numbers of the primates.

Thousands of startled monkeys scrambled for cover during a fireworks display at an annual festival in Thailand.

Throngs of the normally aggressive creatures stampeded across the road as pyrotechnics lit up the sky for this year's Monkey Feast Festival which kicked off on November 27 in Lopburi province.

The animals, some with their young in tow, caused traffic chaos when they fled from the sharp blasts thundering during festivities just outside the Phra Prang Sam Yot temple.

Motorists had to stop and wait for the large troop of panicked primates to cross before carrying on driving.

The festival is held yearly, with a thanksgiving buffet offered to the city's simian denizens for their help in boosting local tourism.

This year, they were served a feast of delicious fruits and vegetables like durian, cherries, and blueberries.

Yongyuth Kitwatanusont, head of the province's Chinese Monkey Banquet association, told reporters: 'This monkey feast festival is a successful event that helps promote Lopburi's tourism among international tourists every year.

'Previously, there were about 300 monkeys in Lopburi before increasing to nearly 4,000 nowadays. But Lopburi is known as a monkey city, which means monkeys and people can live in harmony.'

However, the wild animals are sometimes seen as pests, committing petty theft against tourists while littering the pavements and sidewalks with excrement.

Thailand had been battling to control their surging monkey population before the pandemic started. Officials had even begun sterilising large numbers of the primates.