Raging floods washed away a car trying to driver across a creek that had swollen after torrential rain in southern Thailand.

The water surged and swept away the white sedan while it was powering through the deluge in Phattalung province's Khao Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary on July 4 afternoon.

Luckily, power poles being used as a makeshift bridge blocked the vehicle from drifting further downstream.

Footage shows the white saloon half-submerged under the raging torrents crashing down from nearby mountains, with only the pole keeping it from floating away.

Shaken driver Surachet Khongdam said: 'I didn't expect the flood to gush so suddenly. It took just one to two minutes for the water to rise before my car floated and was washed away. I am still shaken by what happened.'

Electric worker Chaiyot Suwan said he heard Surachet's car roaring as it struggled against the current. He then called his colleagues to evacuate the motorist out of the creek.

He said: 'We told the car's driver to open the front window, but he couldn't because of the water pressure. We decided to open the back window instead and managed to pull him out safely.'

Authorities later arrived with a crane to tow the car out of the creek.

Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are in the middle of their tropical monsoon rainy season, which lasts until October or November.

Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods.