Pho Ta Toh Sae Shrine

4 Crystal Chiang - 3 years ago

Monkey Hill was on my top list of things to do in Phuket because I love monkeys and this place was inadvertently marketed as a casual hike with unregulated free range monkeys. There are ample health warnings and locals advising against direct contact with the monkeys, which is easy to do if you don’t want contact (just walk calmly and don’t show food/water). Feeding seemed welcome, however, as there are banana and nut stalls at the bottom of the hill to buy to feed the monkeys. We brought bananas and loved feeding these little guys. They’re mostly incredibly well behaved and will very politely take it from your hand if you offer it to them. It’s adorable! But don’t tease them! More and more monkeys will wander over expecting snacks. Some do bite and grab without warning (bf got a nip from behind when he turned his back to monkeys who saw or smelled the bananas in his bag. If they see a stash on you, you will surely build an audience. There’s also a pecking order of which monkeys get the bananas so the babies will scamper quickly at the sight of a larger alpha.

Word of advice: don’t try to pet or hold them because they aren’t used to it and will squeal and may accidentally scratch you trying to run off!

You will also see plenty of stray dog packs. They wander casually and sometimes chase the monkeys. While they are very comfortable and unbothered by the many tourist visitors and exercising locals, they don’t appear to be well-socialized with humans and are also covered in fleas/mange, so I don’t recommend getting too close to them.

Overall, super fun experience! Convinced my boyfriend to like monkeys more! Grab made it easy for us to make a ~500baht trip each way from Patong.

5 Benjamin Math - 4 years ago

These monkeys were hilarious! They chased me down and stole my water bottle. It is good to keep your distance but enjoy! There is a guy there who seems to be their friend and hangs out with them. It is a serious hike up the hill so make sure you bring a scooter or car. Hold onto your water!

4 Vas Mintzikos - 3 years ago

We came here in the late afternoon and had to walk a fair way up the hill to see the monkeys as they tend to migrate up the hill in the evening but it was worth the exercise.

The monkeys were very cute however they need to be respected as they can turn on you if they think that you have something that you want... Like food or even drinks.. Apparently they like Coke from what I'm told.

Avoid any sudden movements, walk slowly and avoid putting your hands in your pockets and you'll be fine.

Our 2 younger kids had fun so it's good for all the family.

3 Miles Macdonald - 3 years ago

The views from the upper reaches of this hill are not as good as Rang Hill nearby, but the hill lives upto it's name with hundreds of monkeys hanging around, lots of them on the road. Lovely to see the babies playing with each other and adults grooming each other. So nice to see these creatures in the wild enjoying their natural habitat. If you cary on to the top of the hill, you'll find many broadcasting masts and satellite dishes.

5 Kevin Anderson - 3 years ago

Amazing! We rented a Tuk Tuk from Patong to drive us to the famous Monkey Hill - we were not disappointed! Some reviews advise to bring fruit or nuts, others recommend against it. I highly recommend bringing bananas - we stopped at a small fruit stand at the bottom of the hill and bought enough bananas to feed a small army - we spent about an hour watching the monkey's play in the trees and eat the bananas. This is a must see!

5 YO DBear - 5 years ago

Definitely a great place to chill for free. The monkeys are lovely but aggressive so always be aware of your surroundings. They don't want bananas, peanuts will be better. There's a shop on top and they sell coke for 20 bah and peanuts for 10 bah. BTW don't continue to walk up when you see the sightseeing point because there's nothing to see but some kind of generator or power station. LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST: there are SNAKES in the bush and I saw one small COBRA on the sidewalk and I almost stepped on it! So always watch your step!

5 Josh T - 6 years ago

Such cute little monkeys! Went here early early afternoon like around 12-1ish. Stayed for hours. Didn't bother buying the food from any vendors because there's literally free food near the top where the monkeys hang out. You'll know you're there when you see a bunch of monkeys hanging out in the middle of the road. Girlfriend and I came up by scooter and went slowly around the monkeys as to not make any noise because everyone who first drives up gets a swarm of monkeys.

To be safe do not pull out plastic bags or be careful with any sudden movements of your backpack. The monkeys will surround you and stare assuming you have food or something they can eat. If you're nice and slow they'll get bored and go away. It was really such a nice experience though to be so close up to them and see them run around! As mentioned before about the bags, they knew some young teen boy had a bag in shorts and one monkey came from behind, climbed up his clothes and lifted his shirt and tried to steal the bag hahaha! Anyways it should be safe if you follow the food rule and don't make any sudden movements. These guys are jumpy and cautious but will be fine if you move slowly and have a bucnh of food of course haha. They'll even sit near you or climb your lap for more if you follow the earlier mentioned steps!

Last tip is not to come after 3. Don't know if something happens or goes down at that time but close to 4 all the monkeys ran away and there was literally none in sight but stray dogs. Very important if you really plan on seeing monkeys.