Monkey Buffet Festival 2026

When is the Monkey Buffet Festival 2026?

The Monkey Buffet Festival 2026 is expected on Sunday 29 November at Phra Prang Sam Yot in Lopburi. TAT lists the feast on the last Sunday of November each year: in 2023 it fell on 26 November, and in 2024 the 36th feast was on 24 November. The town sets the programme close to the date.

Ask Tanner to plan your day in Lopburi around the feast.

What does the feast look like?

Lopburi sets up long banquet tables piled with colourful fruit and snacks, and the town's monkeys come down from the temple walls to eat. The tables go up at Phra Prang Sam Yot and at the San Phra Kan shrine nearby. The monkeys climb onto the tables, grab what they like and eat in the sun, while the crowd laughs and takes pictures.

The feast is served in sittings through the day, so the tables fill up more than once. The times are set each year: in 2023, TAT listed four sittings, at 10am, noon, 2pm and 4pm. Come for the first one if you want the fullest tables.

Ask Tanner to get you there before the first sitting.

Why does Lopburi feed its monkeys?

The feast is Lopburi's thank-you to its monkeys. Hundreds of monkeys roam free in the old town, and over the years they have become the town's big draw for visitors and a symbol of the province.

The feast was first held in the 1980s, the idea of a local hotel owner. It grew into a yearly festival that the people of Lopburi now put on together every November. That's why many people simply call it the Lopburi monkey festival: the monkeys are the guests of honour, and the whole town turns out to serve them. For visitors, it's one of the most unusual festivals in Thailand.

Ask Tanner to pair it with more cultural festivals in Thailand.

Where do the tables go up?

The main feast is at Phra Prang Sam Yot, the old stone temple with three towers in the middle of Lopburi's old town. The San Phra Kan shrine, a short walk away, is the monkeys' other home and gets tables too. In 2024 the feast also spread to the Pho Kao Ton monkey garden.

Phra Prang Sam Yot is three Khmer towers joined by a corridor, built of laterite in the Bayon style around the 12th to 13th century. It sits on a small mound on the west side of the railway line, right by San Phra Kan, so the whole feast is in one easy walk. Later, in King Narai's reign, it became a Buddhist temple.

The temple is open daily from 8.30am to 6pm. Entry for foreign visitors is ฿50, or ฿150 for a combined ticket that also covers Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat, Ban Wichayen and Phra Nang Yen.

• Phra Prang Sam Yot: the main feast, by the three towers.
• San Phra Kan shrine: more tables, a short walk away.

Ask Tanner which sitting suits your group best.

How do you get to Lopburi from Bangkok?

Lopburi is just under 150 km north of Bangkok, with trains and buses every day. The train is the quickest public option at about an hour and a half; by road it's about three hours. The easiest way for a group is your own van with a driver, door to door, so you can arrive before the first sitting and leave when you like.

• By train: daily trains run from Bangkok to Lopburi, about an hour and a half. Phra Prang Sam Yot is right by the railway line in the old town.
• By bus or road: daily buses run too, and the trip by road takes about three hours.
• Your own van: a luxury van with a driver from ฿6,500 for 10 hours, for up to 4. That covers Bangkok to Lopburi and back in one day.
• Make a day of it: Lopburi's sunflower fields bloom from November to January, so you can add them on the way home.

Tanner's pick: take the van, not the train. You leave Bangkok at dawn, walk straight to the tables for the first sitting, and stop at the sunflowers on the way home.

Ask Tanner and the van waits outside your hotel.

How do you act around the monkeys?

Around the monkeys, keep your hands free and your things zipped away. The monkeys in Lopburi are used to people and very quick, so give them room and let them eat.

• Put sunglasses, hats and phones in a zipped bag when you are close to the tables.
• Don't carry food or drinks in your hands near the feast.
• If a monkey comes up to you, stay calm, step back slowly and let it pass.
• Watch from the edge of the crowd for the best photos with a long lens.

Ask Tanner what else to pack for a day in Lopburi.

How to plan your day in Lopburi

Do it as a day trip from Bangkok: leave early, be at Phra Prang Sam Yot for the first sitting, and head home in the afternoon. Loy Krathong is the Tuesday before, on 24 November, and Yi Peng lights up Chiang Mai from 23 to 25 November, so one week can hold all three.

• Early morning: leave Bangkok with your driver.
• Morning: find your spot at Phra Prang Sam Yot before the first sitting.
• Midday: walk to the San Phra Kan shrine, then lunch in the old town.
• Afternoon: the sunflower fields on the way back to Bangkok.
• Best time: the first sitting of the morning, when the tables are full and the crowd is smaller.
• Where to stay: most people do the Lopburi monkey festival as a day trip and sleep in Bangkok, so your hotel or pool villa stays the same all week.
• Cash: carry some baht for the food stalls, drinks and temple entry around the old town.

Plan it with Tanner, or read about Loy Krathong the same week.

What should you bring to the Monkey Buffet Festival?

For the Monkey Buffet Festival, bring a zipped bag for your sunglasses, hat and phone, a long lens for photos and some cash for the old town. Keep your hands free of food near the tables.

Lopburi's monkey feast in short

• The Monkey Buffet Festival 2026 is expected on Sunday 29 November at Phra Prang Sam Yot, Lopburi.

• Long tables of fruit go out for the monkeys in sittings: in 2023 there were four, from 10am to 4pm.
• Lopburi is just under 150 km north of Bangkok: an easy day trip with your own driver.
• TAT lists the feast on the last Sunday of November every year.
• Lopburi's sunflower fields bloom from November to January, an easy stop on the way home.

Plan it with Tanner.