Dad forced to punch gang of monkeys after they approached his young son

A father has been forced into protective mode when a gang of monkeys approached his young son.

Riley Whitelum, who runs the YouTube account Sailing La Vagabonde, along with his wife Elayna Carausu, recently posted a video that left viewers stunned.

Things took an ugly turn while the Aussie parents were exploring Monkey Beach in Ko Phi Phi Don in Thailand with their children, Darwin and Lenny.

In their most recent video, one monkey is seen walking towards one of their beach bags before Riley jumped in to scare the animal away.

However, the monkey became instantly aggressive and began to approach Darwin.

The child cried and fell over before his father swiftly picked him up.

At this point, three more monkeys appeared, leading the father to scrunch up his fist while monkeys started growling at the family.

The monkeys again approach their belongings, which are carrying their passports, phones, wallets and cameras.

The father of two dived toward the bag, swinging at the monkeys whenever they came too close.

“The monkeys were determined to rummage through our bag and take whatever they could,” Elayna adds in a voiceover.

Eventually, the dad managed to scare the gang away.

Riley said he had been in a ‘punch up with a dozen monkeys’ while holding the bite on his finger towards the camera.

YouTube/Sailing La Vagabonde

"I'm not kidding babe, they went for Darwin," Riley tells Elayna as she emerged from the water.

"Lenny literally said 'is it going to get me' and I said 'no mate, no' and then they just went for Darwin.

"I'm really glad the boys didn't get bitten."

Following the attack, Riley had to receive multiple rabies shots.

"I need to have five or more needles in my wound, then four shots over 20 days," he said.

The incident left many spooked, while many called out bystanders for not intervening and helping the young family.

One person wrote: “You do what you need to do to protect your kids. Well done, Riley, I hope the finger is all good. The whole thing looked so frightening, and I can't believe no one came to your rescue.”

Another commented: “I was thinking the same thing as I watched everyone around just staring. There were kids, man. Good on Riley for saving his kiddos!”

While a third said: “How terrifying!! And the people who would rather record the attack than help is disgusting! Riley, you are so brave and strong. Your family must be so thankful!”