A Thai woman who wanted to go viral got her wish, and now she's apparently in big legal trouble after showing herself eating a bat on camera. Phonchanok Srisunaklua, who has identified herself as a teacher, posted a clip Monday on her Facebook and TikTok pages showing her supping from "a bowl filled with broth, tomatoes, and multiple dead bats," per TMZ, which has also posted her gag-worthy video. At one point in the footage, Srisunaklua lifts one of the bats out of the bowl by its wings, which she then proceeds to tear off. She then scarfs down chunks of the bat, noting that the meat was "sticky" and that the bat's nails smelled like a rat's, per NextShark.
Still, Srisunaklua, who said it was her first time eating the flying mammal, declared her meal "delicious." She reportedly purchased the bats at a market in northern Thailand, near the border with Laos, where bats infected with a cousin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been found. It's that fact that had viewers particularly outraged over her stunt. "When you get infected and cause an outbreak who will be in trouble? Not just yourself," one critic commented on her Facebook post, per Asia News Network. "If you want to die, just die alone, don't put others in trouble as well," another wrote.
Medical experts, including an epidemiologist with Thailand's Department of Disease Control and an infectious diseases doctor with the Thai Red Cross, agreed that humans could indeed get sick with various coronaviruses or other pathogens from handling or eating bats, especially if the meat isn't cooked well, per the Pattaya Mail. Srisunaklua has since assured everyone that she's "still alive," and she's taken her original video down and issued an apology. However, she's now reportedly been arrested on charges of possession of protected wildlife carcasses and for breaching a computer-related crimes law. She's looking at up to five years behind bars and/or a maximum fine of nearly $14,000 if convicted. (More unimaginable grossness stories.)
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