This is the dramatic moment tourists and locals joined together to pull a pickup truck that was washed away by the sea back to shore.

The black Nissan was parked on the edge of the sand next to a seafood restaurant in Phuket, southern Thailand on July 28 afternoon.

However, the distracted driver left the automatic transmission in neutral while he ate dinner with a friend.

The ocean tide came in and lifted the the car into the sea before dragging it out into the surf.

Frantic passers-by ran to help and tied a rope around the vehicle. Footage shows dozens of locals and foreigners living in the area as well as stranded tourists helping to pull the car back to the sand.

The driver appeared during the chaos and thanked the crowd before having his vehicle towed to a nearby mechanic’s garage to repair the water damage.

He said: ''I should have been more careful where I was parking. I never thought the sea wold take my car. I'm so grateful to everybody for helping as I can't afford to buy a new one.''

Local authorities said the unfortunate event had led to an incredible togetherness of the locals and tourists.

One lifeguard involved in the car rescue added: "After the car ran into the sea everybody hurried to pull it back up to the shore. It was an amazing scene to see the togetherness.''