The baby boy was rushed to Phuket late yesterday (Nov 14) from Koh Mai Phai, in Moo 3, Koh Panyee ‒ home to the famed ‘floating village’ in Phang Nga Bay ‒ after Jiraporn Kalong, a 37-year-old relative of the child, raised the alarm.
Ms Jiraporn explained that she was entrusted to look after the baby boy while the child’s parents were in Phuket working as labourers.
Around 1:35pm yesterday she left the boy to sleep and drink milk inside the house. While she was outside, a group of macaques came into the home, with two of the macaques entering the child’s room.
Ms Jiraporn believes the macaques came to steal the baby’s milk. However, one of the macaques bit the child on the head, leaving five to six heavy bite marks through the baby’s skin.
The baby screamed out, at the same moment that she walked back into the house, Ms Jiraporn said. She called out to relatives nearby for help before the monkey released its bite grip on the baby’s head and fled into the forest.
One of the wounds on the baby’s head was gaping and bleeding profusely. The baby was rushed to the Subdistrict Health Promotion Hospital in the area, where nurses dressed the wound to help stop the bleeding.
A boat was quickly brought to rush the child to Baan Tha Dan pier, on the Phang Nga mainland. From there a rescue team rushed the baby to Phang Nga Hospital. Doctors there had the baby boy rushed to Phuket to undergo surgery at Vachira Hospital.
At midday today (Nov 15), Sunattha Phianthong, Deputy President of the Red Cross Society of Phang Nga Province, arrived in Phuket along with officials from the Phang Nga Provincial Social Development and Human Security Office, as well as the baby’s parents.
The baby remains undergoing treatment and is under close observation in the ICU at the hospital.
The child’s family and villagers have directly asked local agencies to investigate and take action to prevent any future attacks by macaques on the island from happening.
The villagers understand that macaques live in the wild, but noted that there are 300 to 400 monkeys on Koh Mai Pai (Bamboo Island), more than the population of people living there.