Park officials hit back at monkeys after they caused trouble for residents in Lop Buri province by kicking off an operation on Monday to move them out of the area for good.

A dozen workers from the Natural Resources, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department placed cages at several locations in the city in the hope that monkeys would enter them and be trapped inside. Their main target was Ratchadamnoen Road in Muang district.

The department hoped to catch at least 30 monkeys on the first day of the operation, which could last until Wednesday.

Previously they were shooting monkeys with sedatives, but it takes at least five minutes for them to become sedated. By that time they could escape to other places, including going to the top of buildings which could pose a danger to people, an official said.

The hunt started after the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry on Saturday agreed to compensate people attacked by monkeys amid a growing problem in Lop Buri, including at least three major cases this month.

Monkeys caught would be released at the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Nakhon Nayok.

A tailor at a shop in the city said that the animals grabbed anything from people walking in the area. "Sometimes they snatched mobile phones from students. I went after them but I could do nothing because the monkey went up the building," she said.