A monkey-phobic British woman who visited a Thai nature resort to overcome her fear has been attacked by a pack of macaque monkeys.
Dee Darwell, 56, of Peterborough, had to be rescued by Thai boatmen and taken to Bangkok Phuket Hospital after the incident on Monkey Island near Phuket, Sky News reports.
Darewell said: "I thought I was heading for safety under this rock in the shade, only to cool down. I laid the towel down and there were no monkeys in sight.
"The next thing I noticed, this monkey walked up next to me and I thought, oh dear, and I began to stand up to move away."
She added: "Then, the monkey took my wrist and pounced on my right arm, sinking his teeth in and hung off it. He wouldn't let go; he was locked on. I was absolutely petrified.
"I thought, this is it, I'm going to die, I'm going to be savaged by these monkeys - then I went into shock. I wouldn't have got off that bloody boat if the tour guide would have said at all that there was any danger, any risk, even the slightest risk."
Darewell explained that her phobia had initially been caused by her father bringing up a "positively evil" chimpanzee.
Tour leader Mr Yongyut Buasod said: "We can't control the monkeys if they decide to bite someone, that's why we always warn the tourists.
"That day some people were teasing the monkeys. They don't necessarily attack the specific person teasing them."