Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - The Thai Town Over Run with Monkeys

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

Welcome to the untamed realm of the world's Wild Wild Web!  On this edition, we're diving into a intriguing story about a town overwhelmed by a rapidly growing population of wild monkeys! We'll explore the monkey-human conflict that's been going on. Tune in for all the wild details!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Coming up on the Wild Web today, why a town in Thailand is locking up their monkeys. Welcome to the untamed realm of the World Wide Web. A swirling vortex of weirdness, bullying and self-obsessed social media posts. In this digital jungle, Jono and Vienna are your fearless guides. Leading you through the wildest parts of the Wild Wild Web. This is the wild, wild web. It is another edition of the wild, wild web where something from the internet has captured our attention

and we like to play the intro twice. Yeah, sometimes you do. Just to make sure that people know what they've tuned on to. You don't want anyone here who thinks they've tuned up for the Joe Rogan podcast, do you? No. No. No.

Welcome to the untamed realm of the world. There we go. Although we'd be a lot more popular if we were the Joe Rogan podcast. Yeah, that's for sure. He got into the podcast game early, didn't he, Joe Rogan? He did. He was one of the first cabs off the rank, wasn't he, internationally? And long-form podcasts.

Some of the chats are really hours and hours and stuff. But, you know, he's got a huge popularity. Who has the time to sit there and listen to hours and hours? So I'm saying the day-to-day theory, not all people, a lot of gym bros put it on and go to the gym and work out and listen to it. And probably go to the gym for a long amount of time. I've never heard the term gym bros. Gym bros, mate.

Are you a gym bro? Are you a gym bro? No, I go to the gym, but I'm definitely not a gym bro. Is Andrew your husband a gym bro? I saw you yesterday. That was quite a funny little story. You went to the gym together. So we share our tag like you do, the City Fitness tag.

So I have to go and then he arrives and we switch right like switch over the tag oh you can't both be in there at the same time well no you can be but like i've got to go pick up the kids so like i see yeah um but we got there and his one of his music videos was playing on the tvs oh was it oh this is awkward and it was like the music in the whole gym he's like oh god oh god oh so his song's blasting over there and Yeah, and I was just, like, cracking up. You filmed it, too, from around there? No one's looking. Yeah, I was, like, filming the TV being like,

I think I know this guy and cuts to him, and he's like. Oh, you would die inside a little bit, wouldn't you? Yeah, yeah. He looks a little awkward in there, as you would be in that situation. But he's not usually like that, but he was, like, cowering a little bit, like, oh, God, it's really loud. It's the gym bros in there, mate. You've got to impress the gym bros. Yeah, it's totally cool. He's also changed up his gym fashioning a little bit like, oh God, it's really loud. It's the gym bros in there, mate. You've got to impress the gym bros.

He's also changed up his gym fashion because I'm like giving him shit because he's trying to like look like a cool gym bro. Let's have a look here. He wears chucks now to the gym. I'm like, where's your gym sneakers? And he's like, I'm just doing weights. And I was like, is this what all the gym bros are wearing? And he wears like pulled up socks.

I'm like, look at you trying to be a cool Gen Z-er, you millennial. So to be a gym bro, do you just have to wear normal footwear? Well, if you're doing weights, a lot of them don't wear gym shoes because you're not running. So you just wear like cool shoes. Okay. I'm learning stuff. What about

some wonderful orthotic ASICs? Great running shoes. Honestly, I boughtotic ASICs. Are they practical? Great running shoes. Honestly, I bought some ASICs at a discount shop, like the discount mall. 30 bucks? Really? It's like walking on clouds. I'm getting to that stage where I'm preferring

comfort. Comfort over fashion. And that's a couple of months away from pulling my pants up over my belly button. Me too. As I show you my arena shoes. Those are very high heels. Do you know, this is a total flex, but I ended up being there for a while yesterday because I was waiting for Andrew for the car to switch over.

So I was there for like an hour and 45 minutes. And I was like, I'm on the treadmill till you get here. And he was like, oh, I'm almost there. Or am I? Ha ha ha ha. But I was on the treadmill for 55 freaking minutes. Running? No.

Shit, no. Shit, no. But still, there's a long time on the treadmill. But I walk uphill. So I was doing like an uphill walk. That's a long time. But. Are you listening to Joe Rogan or something?

I was watching TV shows. Plus the Formula One was on the TV. Oh, great. It was great. But there was guys there who were there when I got there. And it was still there when I left. On the treadmill? Just working out.

Just working, yeah. So two hours. Well, the gym bros would be spending a couple of hours there a day, wouldn't they? Yeah, you would have to be, yeah. It's wild. Do you know a friend of mine, he went to Thailand. He's a kickboxer. He went to Thailand.

And they basically, the kickboxers over there, they treat them like racehorses. Yeah, right. So he's like, we'd wake up every morning, do a 15K run, three hours of kickboxing training, then go for lunch, then do another three hours of training in the afternoon. Oh my God. Wild. Have you been to a kickboxing fight in Thailand? No.

To like watch? No. I did. And they're like their fierce, serious bettors in the stands and like we sat we just went in and sat it was just like concrete seats you just sit wherever but we got abused because we were sitting in the wrong area we were sitting in a like betting area a very serious betting area and they pretty much like bullied us out of the arena because it was so serious oh you weren't allowed to say much no why because we were sitting in the wrong area so they were like get out bullied us out of the arena because it was so serious. Oh, you weren't allowed to stand watch? No.

Why? Because we were sitting in the wrong area. So they were like, get out. Maybe you're in the bloody corporate suites or something. No, it's just literally concrete bleaches. Bleaches or something, yeah. Yeah. And there's no way of knowing where you're supposed to sit. Hard bastards.

But it was so hard out. Well, this is a beautiful segue into today's Thailand. Yeah, I was just thinking that because we haven't got to the story we were going to start with. We just went hard on gyming. So in Thailand, they are locking up some of their monkeys in a particular town. And if you've been to Thailand, there's a lot of monkeys just all around. I know someone who got fiercely booted out of a Thai kickboxing fight. Do you know that?

Went to Thailand. And got bitten by a monkey. All on the to Thailand. And got bitten by a monkey. All on the same trip. And got bitten by a monkey. What? So this town, they reckon there's about 2,500 monkeys running around. And it's so bad that they've been setting traps, baiting them with fruit and stuff, locking them up in traps, and then rehoming them to zoos and stuff.

What, are they just breeding like crazy, are they, the monkeys? Yeah, but what happens if you trap the daddy and then daddy doesn't come home and the babies and the mummy are just at home? You're going to be splitting up families of monkeys. Well, I don't know if they're going to really care too much. They'll probably, maybe for 10 minutes, they'll be like, hey, where's dad gone?

And then they'll get on with their life swinging from trees and just sitting on tourists' shoulders. It's sad. You do wonder that though, eh? You wonder if... Yeah. And then they're like,

just go live over here now. It's like, well, no, they had a home. It's just the tourists are getting bitten. And it's hard, the more you think about things too much, the more you go down.

You know, I mean, look at... So you're saying ignorance is bliss? Well, no, no yeah it's a balance but you think about every animal that you have in your life is no longer with their family like every you know at some you know when you think about that you know that's you know and i hope that that's you you provide for them uh what you think is the best life you can provide for them obviously but yeah mostly we'll do but you know this was i can't think about that too much because that's that's true when we went to pick up our dog Milo

Jen couldn't come inside and watch me take the dog away from the mother Yeah My dog was with his brother He was Robin and the other one was Batman But to be fair I know Batman still And he's a dick Batman's a real jerk I was like you better off away from Batman

So it's the monkey gang problem. There are a lot of them. They're all over the show. Inside shops. What happens if you get bitten by one? What happened there? Well, I think you're supposed to get an injection. Yeah, I was going to say. Oh, did I get an injection before I left? Maybe. Where did it bite you? Just on my finger. Because everyone feeds them bananas

and stuff. And you're like, oh, cute. But then if you run out of bananas, they get pissed off. Or if another monkey's eating the banana or whatever. They're quite aggressive. Yeah, slingshotting them with peas and things to get them off things. They're cute, but they're like, arsehole. Take a quick break there. We'll be back shortly.

Thank you for joining us back. I remember going there I must have been like what third form or something like that we went through the family went through Thailand while we were going some places

and I remember people had them I don't know if it was the same with you they were kind of like a tourist thing so they would come up to you and they'd put them on your shoulder as you know oh there's a monkey

and as a kid you're like oh that's cool and then they'd want money straight away because you suddenly get the monkey and you're getting photos with the monkey not your problem you don't getting photos with the monkey. Not your problem. You don't take photos with anything.

Yeah, because otherwise you need to pay. Because they'll charge you. But this was just at a park. It was like a sanctuary or something. And they all just like clamber to you. So they give you bananas and stuff. But they literally crawl up your legs, like bite your fingers. And they're really aggressive. But they look super cute. It's cute. Yeah. And they're really aggressive but they look super

cute it's cute yeah and they're real little as well some of them are the ones that Ross had on friends right yeah and they make your glasses I'd steal your phone there yeah they are mind you we've got the old is the Kia here or care does yeah yeah the care rips out the rubber around your windscreen doesn't it when you go park in the national parks here in New Zealand? But, oh, oh, there's a sedated one there in this video I'm watching. Oh. I hope it's a sedation. Oh, God.

But there is a lot of them. And if they were overrunning your town, you'd need a control system. Yeah. You do. I get it. What's the most exotic animal you think you could own? Oh. Like, actually? Yeah. And deal with. Yeah. You could own? Oh. Like actually?

Yeah. And deal with? Yeah, you could deal with like tiger. Could you handle a tiger? A sloth. Oh, yeah. That's pretty exotic. I wouldn't do much.

Yeah. He's just slowly walking across the backyard. It's not like you'd have to take it for a walk. Shark? No, I couldn't handle a shark. Where are you putting a shark? Just like in a tent. You'd have the facilities.

If I've got the money to buy an exotic animal, I've got the facilities to put it in a Kelly Tartans or something. All you've got to do is feed it some bloody fish food. Monkeys? Yeah. Yeah, but then you've got to get it somewhere. You've got to clean the... It feels like there's a lot of admin with the shark.

I think it's going to go wrong. I'll change my mind on the shark. No, you can have a shark. You can definitely have a shark. Okay. Great white Okay Great white Great white shark Good lord

Yeah What's it bringing to the relationship Yeah Good talking point And you're like Oh look He's the guy with the great white shark You know

You'd definitely get some lip service Around parties Social functions Oh you got a shark Yeah mate Got a shark I feel like mine's cuter Because it would just sit there

And hang out It would act like it had drinks With everyone And give everyone cuddles. The sloth. The sloth would be nice, wouldn't it? What about you? I don't know.

I feel like I couldn't handle many animals, really. Even if I had the money to handle a lot of animals. My go-to is always a meerkat because I feel like the personality between me and a meerkat is similar. Oh, my God. You are a meerkat. They're very much on edge all the time. What? What did you say? Sorry. They're popping up and down. So I feel like I'd get on all right with meerkat are similar. Oh my God, you are a meerkat. They're very much on edge all the time. What? What did you say?

Sorry. Popping up and down. So I feel like I'd get on all right with meerkats. Small? Small, yeah. They're not too big? Yeah. I feel like we'd just be,

what's that? No, no one's talking about us. That's fine. Go back in our hole. What was it? What was it? Yeah. So I feel like a meerkat,

maybe me and a meerkat would get on all right. If the meerkat was okay to stay, you know, of course. It's good options. What kind of animal was Jono then? Jono was an animal. You're an animal. We used to have a producer, Juliet, she would call me the, do you remember? Oh, naked mole rat.

Naked mole rat. Google a naked mole rat and see what you think. You look like a naked mole rat. I feel like I could probably picture what that is. Oh, there he is. Hairless. Oh, that he is. Hairless. Oh, that's mean. A little wrinkly.

He looks like a big giant foreskin, the naked mole. He does. He's a big, saggy foreskin. He's popping out of that thing that he's popping out of. Maybe a beaver. It's amazing. When you just take hair off animals, how ugly they become. Yeah, it's true.

Even when our dog goes in the pool and is drenched wet, you're like, oh, jeez, the fluff and the hair really adds a lot to people. It does, yeah. The cuteness kind of goes away a little bit, doesn't it? I was thinking more like a tortoise. There's more to see. I could be a tortoise, yeah. What about you, Megan?

What sort of animal is Megan? I don't know. Our friend had a tortoise, Nick. Oh, he got a turtle or a tortoise? I can't remember, but he got one when he was you, Megan? What sort of animal is Megan? I don't know. Our friend had a tortoise, Nick. Oh, he got a turtle. Was it a turtle or a tortoise? I can't remember, but he got one when he was little, right? And he still had it, like, late into the 20s. It lived for, like, 70 years or something like that.

It was a big commitment, a tortoise. And he was like, to be honest, it wasn't the greatest pet. He said his one, like, used to snap at him and things like that. He was like, he didn't get a lot of benefits from this thing. Just with him for 70 years. Yeah, like, all right. Like a mortgage, isn't it? Just carrying that thing around.

Oh, fun. You're trying to dance around giving me an animal. Okay, let me go. Oh, we go. Whatever you say, I'm going to find something negative. Okay. I'm going to go panda. I knew you were going to say panda.

Oh, why? Why did you go with panda? You're calling calling me fat you're calling me big fan fluffy it's because i wear black and white a lot yeah well okay i don't know why i mean panda i wasn't no i wasn't shaming the panda or you you know pandas are cute oh no because now everything i say is gonna be wrong isn't it okay cancelable okay not a panda. Okay. Cuddly. Smells like wheeze. What am I going to... Hedgehog. Prickly. Any animal.

Yeah, you're right. Prickly, sharp, gets run over all the time. Okay. Roadkill. Axolotl. No. They look like a waterlogged foreskin. They do.

Very pink one. Well, I can't. How about like a slender leopard? Okay. You happy with that? Yeah, but now I think you're appeasing me. You've got leopard skin tops and things. I do.

I've seen you in one of those. I do. One of those ones are the quokkas I only got introduced to the quokkas That's pretty cute Have you seen the quokkas? Yeah I want to go

There's like one particular island You can go to Like Western Australia or something right? They look like they're smiling Oh no They look like they're smiling They look like the happiest animals right? So cute

Look at this Oh no that's AI Oh yeah they are happy I thought that was real The quokka It's a fun name to say The quokka Don't you have to You're not allowed to approach them

They have to approach you Isn't that the rule? Is that the thing? No kissing on the lips That's the other rule Cash only Cash only A few rules but yeah

Hey well thank you for listening To the Wild Wild Web Oh look at that one He looks like he's giving you a cuddle They are very smiling They're kind of like Half koala And half

Wombat Yeah Very cute Kids held a koala Smells like wheeze eh It does Yeah Yeah they're very

Interesting But they're Very docile The eucalyptus Really acts as Quite the sedative Yeah And you think their fur

Is going to be all fluffy and soft But it's quite coarse I think it's coarse in there, yeah They're not getting much done I think they sleep for... Oh, let's have a look here Don't they sometimes fall out of the tree? Because they're sleeping?

Yeah They've got one job Just stay in a tree and eat Just hold on Pretty much, yeah 20 hours a day Do they? Sleep

God So when you're holding it it's like geez it must be just always tired hey ready to go again 20 hours someone in a ryman just just ready to do that teetering on dozing weird looking animal though the koala yeah what a weird but they are kind of, yeah. Interesting that it's only become a... Are they anywhere else other than Australia? I don't think so. And don't they... What about platypus? I'm always fascinated by those. That's an unusual

looking animal, right? Yeah. Are they still around? Yeah, I'm pretty sure they are. What is like a duck-billed beaver thing? Again, Australia just just a few hours away from us oh my god that's a big one baby one

baby one yeah they've got some great animals they're very chill with their animals like you can wander into a kangaroo enclosure over there

50 kangaroos pounding around you like charging towards you they don't stress they're fine some of them are jacked too the kangaroos

yeah they really are Chris Hemsworth and they love a bit of biffo too the kangaroos like I was in the are. Chris Hemsworth. And they love a bit of biffo too, the kangaroos. Like I was in the enclosure, I didn't feel like 100% comfortable. The kangaroos could turn on you at any moment. But hey, Australians, they're very chill with snakes, reptiles.

Too chill. Have you seen that TikTok of the guy who fought the kangaroo who was after his dog? Yes. Yeah. And that kangaroo's huge. Having a crack at him. Yeah. Oh, well,'s huge. Having a crack at him. Yeah. Oh, well, Aussie.

Far better country. You know, braver. See, for all the things trying to kill you. Yeah. All right. Well, have a great day. This has been the Wild Wild Web.