Thailand is preparing to cremate more than 1,000 giant cockroaches - and then hold a traditional Buddhist funeral to appease their owners. The mass cremation is the result of a government ban on the popular pets, after officials became concerned they might spread disease. The unlucky insects being destroyed on Friday are thought to have been smuggled into Thailand after the ban took effect, according to the Disease Control Department.
But when they became the latest Thai craze in pets, health officials were concerned they could multiply rapidly and spread diseases like typhoid and diarrhoea.
The cockroaches are set for an ignominious end. The cremation will take place at a rubbish dump in the state-run Bamrasnaradun hospital in Bangkok.
"They will be put in big plastic bags and chucked onto the fire alive," Charal Trinwuthipong, head of the Disease Control Department, told Reuters news agency.
"But then we will hold a Buddhist funeral rite for them," he added.
