#define PY_SSIZE_T_CLEAN
#include <Python.h>
#include "numpy/arrayobject.h"
#include <iostream>





static PyObject *
spam_func(PyObject *self, PyObject *args)
{
    PyObject* rhsNpArray = NULL;
    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O!", &PyArray_Type, &rhsNpArray))
        return NULL;
    int number = PyArray_NDIM(rhsNpArray);
    return PyLong_FromSize_t(number);
}
static PyMethodDef SpamMethods[] = {
    {"func",  spam_func, METH_VARARGS,
     "Execute spam_func."},
    {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}        /* Sentinel */
};

static struct PyModuleDef spammodule = {
    PyModuleDef_HEAD_INIT,
    "spam",
    NULL,
    -1,       
    SpamMethods
};

PyMODINIT_FUNC
PyInit_spam(void)
{
    import_array();// here the crash happens
    
    if (PyErr_Occurred()) {
        std::cerr << "Failed to import numpy Python module(s)." << std::endl;
        return NULL;
    }
    assert(! PyErr_Occurred());
    return PyModule_Create(&spammodule);
}
void doPythonThing()
{

    if (PyImport_AppendInittab("spam", PyInit_spam) == -1) {
        fprintf(stderr, "Error: could not extend in-built modules table\n");
         exit(1);
     }

     Py_Initialize();

     PyObject *pmodule = PyImport_ImportModule("spam");
}





int
main(int argc, char *argv[])
{ 
    //calling doPythonThing without a new thread works fine
    std::thread thread(doPythonThing);
    thread.join();
    return 0; 
}