In a strange turn of events, Bangkok is reported to be being overrun with rats following a municipal crackdown on snakes.
The snake catching program, which has seen the relocation of at least 5,500 pythons and other snakes to the countryside, has removed the largest consumer of rats, hence the mass increase in rat numbers which are now estimated to number over one million in the capital.
Environmental expert Suphasorn Pathumratanathan told Thairath that since the removed snakes could be expected to eat 600,000 rats since the program started in 2017, their remove accounts for a large part of the increase.
Mr. Pathumratanathan added that cats are partially responsible for the rat increase, being described are lazy and not working hard enough to catch rats, as well as an increase in rubbish from residents often buying takeaway food as opposed to cooking food at home.
