A young Australian influencer shared a tearful confession of how she witnessed a monkey show in Thailand which she paid for without realising how cruel it was, and warning others not to make the same mistake.
Young Rory Eliza gave a shocking recount of her dreadful experience in Phuket in a TikTok video that quickly went viral with over 7 million views and nearly 1.5 million likes.
The 21-year-old influencer, who has over 6.8 million followers on TikTok, said she wanted to hold a monkey while holidaying on the tropical island.
While one of the tour guides she asked apparently avoided the topic, another one recommended a place.
Unaware of the horror she was about to witness, Eliza paid for an entry ticked up front, and got a shock as soon as she went inside.
In the video, Eliza told through tears: “If you’re in Thailand, Phuket don’t pay for this, don’t support this.
“I wish I had known before I went in because I spent money supporting this cruelty.
“It’s so cruel. I held this baby monkey in my arms and the thing was absolutely petrified.”
Eliza included a trigger warning in her video, where she included a clip of the nightmarish experience.
She went on: “Every time the guy came to take the monkey from me, the baby just screamed and hissed.
“And every time he pulled the chain around that baby’s neck, the baby hugged me tighter.”
The young woman confessed that she left the place in tears and pleaded for others not to pay for shows like that one.
Eliza said: “If only I knew. And as I was walking out they said ‘Can you give us some money to take care of the monkeys and help support us’ and I said ‘absolutely not, I don’t support anything, what you’re doing here.”
In the caption, Eliza added: “Thats why they make u pay before u go in. Because they know its wrong.”
While some people thanked her for sharing her experience, others criticized her for not documenting it before.
One TikTok user titled ‘Claudia Shiner’ said in a comment: “Thank you so much for posting this. I’m in tears. I’m going to Thailand in a couple of weeks & was going to hold a monkey, but I definitely won’t now!”
Another user titled ‘DeliciaCarra44’ said: “That just broke my heart it’s sad how some people are so cruel to animals. Those poor babies don’t deserve that.”
While user ‘TheToriJoy’ wrote: “So you did no research and did not think critically before going?”
And user ‘amandastevenson20’ commented: “Maybe because you have such an amazing following there could be something you can do about it? I’m not sure what but [that] would be amazing.”