Aussie influencer’s tearful video of ‘cruel’ Thailand ‘Monkey Show’ goes viral
Australian influencer Rory Eliza has shared a tearful video of “cruel” tourist activity in Thailand, warning others not to make the mistake of participating like she did.
The 21-year-old, who has 6.9 million followers on TikTok, said she wanted to hold a monkey while on vacation in Phuket and asked where she could find the experience.
She said one travel guide avoided the question, while another recommended a place.
Eliza said she had to pay an entrance fee before gaining access to the “Monkey Show” and once the doors opened she was in shock.
“If you’re in Thailand, Phuket don’t pay for this, don’t support this,” she pleaded in the clip, which has been viewed 6.7 million times in four days.
“I wish I had known before I went in because I spent money supporting this cruelty.”
“It’s so cruel. I held this baby monkey in my arms and the thing was absolutely petrified.
A video of Eliza’s experience showed a small monkey with a collar around its neck and a metal chain being pulled by an unidentified man.
“Every time the guy came to take the monkey from me, the baby just screamed and hissed. And every time he pulled the chain around that baby’s neck, the baby hugged me tighter,” said she declared.
Eliza pleaded with others not to pay for such experiences.
“If only I knew. And as I was walking out they said ‘Can you give us some money to take care of the monkeys and help support us’ and I said ‘absolutely not, I don’t support anything. what you’re doing here,” she recalls.
She said she left in “absolute tears”.
The young woman then shared her video on Instagram where she wrote a long caption calling for an end to the “disgusting, disgusting” activity.
“All I wanted to do was hold a monkey like I saw on TikTok,” she said.
“But I learned the hard way. I had never been to Thailand before and was completely unaware of it.
Many people thanked Eliza for speaking up, but others criticized her for not doing any research beforehand.
“Thank you very much. I’m going to Phuket and I was going to do this, I had NO idea what poor babies are [go through]definitely changing plans,” one person wrote.
“Thank you so much for posting this. I’m in tears. I’m going to Thailand in a few weeks and was going to hold a monkey, but I definitely won’t now!” said another.
“Okay but what made you think paying to own an animal was fair in the first place…” one person slammed.
“SO you paid to hold a wild monkey and didn’t you think that was abuse per se too?” added another.
News.com.au has contacted Eliza through her management for further comment.
nypost
