A monkey attacked tourists to keep a bag it stole on a beach in Thailand.

The long-tailed macaque lurked around the trees when it spotted a pink waterproof rucksack lying in the sand in Krabi province on January 24.

When it was about to rummage through the contents, the woman who owned it tried to take it away from the furry thief.

But instead of letting it go, the animal appeared keen on having the bag for itself and began to chase the tourists.

Footage shows the monkey scaring a woman off and threatening another tourist who tried to pull the bag with other monkeys from the troop, appearing to join in the chase.

Onlooker Sangar Saed said: "There was a beach robbery involving a monkey. It tried to steal the bag. It was hilarious and scary at the same time".

A monkey attacked tourists to keep a bag it stole on a beach in Thailand.

The long-tailed macaque lurked around the trees when it spotted a pink waterproof rucksack lying in the sand in Krabi province on January 24.

When it was about to rummage through the contents, the woman who owned it tried to take it away from the furry thief.

But instead of letting it go, the primate appeared keen on having the object for itself and began to chase the tourists.

Footage shows the monkey scaring a woman off the pink bag. It also threatened another tourist who tried to pull the object with other monkeys from the troop, appearing to join in the chase.

Onlooker Sangar Saed said: ‘There was a beach robbery involving a monkey. It tried to steal the bag. It was hilarious and scary at the same time.'

Thailand is inhabited by wild monkeys. There are large numbers of them behaving badly in cities across the country.