This is the moment a motorcycle and sidecar rolled backwards through a car park onto a busy highway when the owner forgot to put on the brakes.

The rider had left the two-wheeler on the sloped pavement to buy some liquor when it started to move on its own in Loei province on April 4.

CCTV footage shows the driverless vehicle slowly circling toward the road as the motorist ran to keep it from crashing. The motorcycle struck a balloon mascot and left a hole in its side.

Speaking in the video, shop owner Kritsana Chapitu, 35, said: 'I think the rider parked his motorcycle running while he was buying alcohol from me. It must have rolled away because the parking area is sloped.'

Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in Asia, Thailand suffers from chronic underinvestment in its roads and pavements, contributing to its poor road safety levels. Only a handful of African countries are worse.

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.