A coconut farmer has shown how he climbs trees without abusing monkeys following condemnation by animal rights groups over the practice.<br /><br />Saengsil Hubsupha, 49, demonstrated with metal-framed seat used for scaling palm trees after the charity PETA criticised the industry for using monkeys to pick the fruits in Thailand.<br /><br />Footage shows Saengsil and him team climbing the trees on his orchard in Trang, southern Thailand, yesterday morning (July 7).<br /><br />Saengsil said the method is cheaper than using monkeys, which are expensive to buy, train and care for.<br /><br />He said: ''Normally, if the coconut is not more than 32ft high, workers with the climbing tools can gather the fruit.<br /><br />"However, when the fruits are above 32ft from the ground, monkeys can be hired and they do a much better job and retrieve the coconuts. They can get them in ten seconds.<br /><br />Saengsil said that he doesn't use monkeys as they are too expensive.<br /><br />He said: "The price for a monkey is not cheap, while the cost to treat their injuries and pay for vets is far more expensive.<br /><br />"I believe that most orchard owners would not want to risk spending money a monkey just to have them climb up a tree. If they do keep them, they have a strong bond with them.<br /><br />"As far as I know, the monkeys were all cared for like they part of their owner's family.''<br /><br />Shocking footage obtained by PETA showed the barbaric training methods endured by the primates to teach them how to retrieve the foods. <br /><br />The criticism lead to a number of UK retailers distance themselves from coconut products obtained from Thailand. <br /><br />Ministers in the country responded by claiming the use of monkeys was similar to ''pigs collecting truffles''.
