This is the heart-breaking moment a newborn baby boy is rescued after being abandoned in a filthy public toilet.

The infant was heard crying on Tuesday evening at 7pm in the busy Sukhumvit Road area packed with tourists in Bangkok, Thailand.

Locals picked up the naked baby - who had been bitten by mosquitos - and wrapped him in a towel. They believe that spirits from the nearby temple had protected him.

The boy was placed on a market stand with a blue plastic table cloth while authorities arrived.

Nurses treated the youngster - who still had him umbilical cord attached - before he was taken to the nearby Sirindhorn Hospital.

Chokchai Banyensakul from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation which attended the scene said the mother had only recently given birth.

He said: ''We think that the mother had the baby in the toilet or very near and then left him in there. The boy had been bitten by mosquitos. He needed to be seen by doctors. We think he had been there for three or four hours before he was found.''

The infant was treated at hospital and kept in overnight while authorities try to trace the mother.

Police said they are reviewing CCTV from the area to identify who left the baby.

Lieutenant Colonel Apisak Anongnat from the Phra Khanong Police Station said: ''The baby was left in the toilet near a temple so we think the person who left the baby intended the monks to care of him.

''Raising the baby is the responsibility of parents and we will investigate the case in order to find those responsible and prosecute them for neglecting the child.''