The Training School for Macaques

Here's an Indonesian school that teaches macaque monkeys to climb palm trees and pluck coconuts.

De-Husking Coconuts The Hard Way: With Your Teeth

"A BAHRAIN resident hopes to enter the world record books this week by becoming the fastest man to de-husk a coconut with his teeth," so begins an article in Bahrain's Gulf Daily News about "Rajesh Prabhu, 26, from India," who "also plans to set the first world record for de-husking a coconut with his fingers and feet."

Ouch.

Indian Movie Star's Beauty Secrets: It's All in the Coconut

From Sify Movies comes this article about how a Bollywood movie star in India relies on coconut paste and coconut water to keep her beauty (now I've heard everything):

What happens when 'Bijli' meets 'pani'? Well, you get a shock. With Czech-born supermodel Yana Gupta soaking up coconut water, audiences are certainly in for an electrifying experience.

Gorgeous Gupta, who is gearing up to do yet another item number after her sizzling appearances in 'Dum' and 'Rakth', says 'Nariyal Pani' (Coconut water) and 'Nariyal ki Chatni' (Coconut paste) are the two most important ingredients of her sex appeal.

Full story here.

Ben Tre Vietnamese Coconut Industry Continues Expansion

The Vietnam Economy website reports that the Ben Tre province on the Mekong River delta is now exporting coconuts to 42 countries around the world.

Main importers of Ben Tre province's speciality are China, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Europe, the US and Canada.

Targeting between US$33-35 million from coconut product exports, Ben Tre is pushing for the early operation of a 2,000-tonne coir fibre plant, a 2,000-tonne desiccated copra plant and a 1,500 tonne charcoal plant.

From Suntans to Santans

A story about locals who make a living growing coconuts and selling them to tourists at a resort in Spiadan-Mabul.

Ben Tre, Then and Now

Ben Tre province in Viet Nam was heavily hit in the war back in the 60s and 70s. A U.S. Major once made the infamous statement, "It became necessary to destroy the town to save it," about a town in Ben Tre.

Now, Ben tre is Viet Nam's largest coconut-growing province.

Here's a recent article about Ben Tre and its coconut industry from VNANET.VN.

Bomb squad called for Coconut

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

July 22 2003 --- A bundle containing a coconut and two lemons triggered panic in a temple in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, bringing the bomb disposal squad rushing to the world heritage monument.

Read the full story here.