Somporn Saekow, 62; Pioneer Monkey Trainer

Somporn Saekow, founder of Thailand’s first monkey-training school and a pioneer in using monkeys to pick coconuts commercially, has died. He was 62.

Somporn died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack, soon after demonstrating his craft to a group of tourists at his school in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani.

Somporn’s daughter, Somjai, said her father had complained that he was not feeling well before the demonstration but had “forced himself to smile and carried on with the show.”

Afterward, she found him lying on the floor. He died later at a hospital.

Somporn began teaching monkeys in 1957, but didn’t open his school until 1993.

He quickly found a niche market during the economic boom years when human labor was scarce and expensive.

Though a human is unable to pick more than 100 coconuts a day, monkeys can collect at least five times as many because of their agility and dexterity.

The animals are used elsewhere in Southeast Asia to pick coconuts.

Somporn taught a six-week course for those who wanted their monkeys trained. The owners then rented their animals to coconut orchard managers for a fee.

Somporn became a household name when his favorite monkey, Khai Nui, carried the Surat Thani provincial flag during the opening ceremony of the National Games in 1993.

Khai Nui, who has appeared in several television commercials, was with Somporn until his last moments, Somjai said, adding that the monkey seemed to know his master had died and was very depressed.

Somporn will be buried Monday with royal honors in Surat Thani, 330 miles southwest of Bangkok.