Thousands of shrimp washed up on a beach baffling locals in Thailand.

Footage shows swarms of tiny opossum shrimp covering the sands along Mai Khao Beach on Phuket island on March 31.

Residents went to the beach to collect some of the edible crustaceans for dinner.

Village council chief Winai Sae-ae said: 'We were shocked because we have never seen this much shrimp wash ashore before. Around five kilometres of the beach was covered in shrimp. We are asking environmental officials to inspect why this happened.'

An opossum shrimp is a small crustacean belonging to the order Mysida. They are typically found in marine and brackish waters and are known for the females' brood pouch resmbling those of marsupials' from which they derive their name.