Water buffalo gets funeral

Water buffalo gets funeral

BANGKOK (Reuters): A Thai movie star is holding a three-day funeral for a buffalo which starred in his most successful film, helping it become a box office hit. Boonlert, a 32-year-old water buffalo with three-meter-long horns, was a leading character in Bangrachan, a Thai film made last year based on a battle between Thailand and Myanmar 230 years ago.

He died on Sunday of natural causes.

Actor Bin Banloerit said the funeral was being held to offer thanks to Boonlert, whose unusually long horns were credited with drawing large crowds to cinemas.

"He could not just die like other regular water buffaloes because he had done so much for the movie," Bin told Reuters.

"If there had been no Boonlert, the film's revenue might not have reached as much as 70 million baht (US$1.6 million) so far."

The funeral started on Sunday.

Boonlert's body has been hung upright by strings. The body has been covered with a piece of white cloth, in the tradition of Buddhist funerals for human beings. A Thai opera will be performed in front of the corpse on Tuesday to pay respect to the buffalo, Bin said.