Life in the touristic city of Lopburi in Thailand came to a standstill when approximately 3,500 monkeys took over the city. According to NTV, many shops and workplaces have closed their doors because of the cute monkeys. The historical places of the city have become unvisitable.

It is stated that monkeys enter shopping malls, damage shops and steal people’s food. The Monkey Festival held every year in Lopburi attracts great attention from tourists, but the city’s residents say that some areas are completely under the control of monkeys and they want the government to find a solution to this situation.

“We live in cages, but the monkeys are outside. Their feces are everywhere, and when it rains, their smell is unbearable,” a Lopburi resident told AFP.

With the suspension of the sterilization program implemented in the past years to keep the monkey population under control in the city, their number increased to 6 thousand. Authorities were forced to revert to a sterilization program.