A swarm of giant honeybees converged on a woman's motorcycle basket while she was shopping at a market in Thailand.

Renu Rattanakaew, 56, was buying vegetables and meat at the Rungroj Market in Krabi and had left her motorcycle in the car park on June 20.

But during the five minutes she was gone, the bee army descended and claimed the bike's basket as their new home. They had gathered on the front of the motorcycle, leaving Renu unable to approach for fear of being stung.

The woman then called pest exterminators to help her get rid of the bugs.

Footage shows the fearless officers lighting a bundle of leaves on fire to create smoke that would drive the bees away.

A volunteer without a bee suit squatted beside the motorcycle and waved the burning tinder around as the bees fled in an angry cloud.

The team received several bee stings, but the mission was a success.

A relieved Renu said: 'I had only been at the market for a short time, and when I came back to put the groceries in the basket, I found the bees were already covering it. I'd never seen anything like it before.'

There are more thabn 300 species of bees in Thailand. This includes both native bees and introduced species, such as the European honeybee.