Thailand government told to stop monkeying around as coconut-boycott campaign stings
Coconut Milk
Thailand
United States
Published Jun 15, 2023
Tridge summary
The government is being urged to hire lobbyists in the United States and the European Union to counteract a campaign by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) calling on consumers in both markets to boycott Thai-produced coconut milk.
Original content
PETA says in its campaign that monkeys are being used to harvest coconuts on Thai plantations, and that they are being severely mistreated. The campaign is continuing to affect exports of coconuts from Thailand, private sector sources said. They say the PETA campaign is based on false information and are urging the government to hire lobbying firms to counteract the campaign, which shows videos and images of monkeys being chained, mistreated and allegedly trained to harvest coconuts on Thai plantations. PETA’s campaign is leading to a decrease in consumer purchases and causing importers and traders in both the US and European markets to reduce purchases of Thai products, private sector sources say. Thai coconut milk producers and exporters say they do not use monkeys in harvesting or production. Newer coconut plantations use so-called ‘‘dwarf” coconut trees, which are shorter and do not need to be climbed to harvest coconuts. Thailand supplies about 80% of the coconut milk in the ...
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