A mother and father both died while trying to save their drowning daughter in Thailand.

Bootsarin Pirom, 55, and his wife Koriya Sarapee, 55, had tok their daughter Kanya Pirom, 7, to cut grass at a rubber plantation in Krabi province on February 10.

However, the energetic youngster ran too close to the 16ft-deep pond and plunged into the water while playing.

The couple saw their child flailing in the reservoir and jumped in to rescue her. However, they too tragically drowned as the pool was too deep for them to stay afloat,

Police Captain Pittaya Jariyanukul of the Ao Nang district police station said cops were notified at 11 am.

Officers, medics, and rescuers arrived at the scene, where a black Mazda pickup loaded with grass was parked near the pond.

Divers lowered themselves into the pond and pulled out the family's bodies from the water. Bootsarin and Kanya were found near the edge of the pond, while Koriya had sunk to the bottom.

Worker Wanna Paosupab, 49, who had been tapping rubber trees with her son at the time, said the couple were hired to cut grass at the plantation to be fed to livestock.

She said: 'My son and I were working when we heard the mother screaming. When we rushed over, we found the father jumping into the pool to pull out his daughter. The mother was already at the bottom of the pool.

'My son tried to help by throwing a wire towards the man, but it broke. We tried extending a PVC pipe, but at that point, the father was already exhausted and eventually drowned.

'We couldn't jump in ourselves because we don't know how to swim.'

Police Captain Pittaya said the daughter was likely unfamiliar with the area, and had fallen into the reservoir while entertaining herself.

He said: 'The parents were unable to climb up because the side of the pond were quite steep and covered with mossy tarpaulin, making it slippery.'

Police have contacted the relatives of the family to prepare for funeral arrangements.