Locals hold a bizarre boxing match on a pole over a pond to celebrate the end of a five-month lockdown during the pandemic.

Footage shows the would-be boxers straddling a 15ft-long pole, trying to topple one another to win.

The unusual sport was held at the Suan Lang Baan organic farm in Ratchaburi province, central Thailand attended by excited locals - delighted that the strictest of the emergency pandemic measures had been lifted,

Villagers were celebrating the end of the Covid-19 restrictions, which has managed to avoid the soaring number of cases see in neighbouring countries.

The activity is called "Muay Thalay," or "sea boxing," which is considered a national past time in the country.

Participants throw punches at their opponent on the other side of the pole until one of them falls into the water. The boxers wear colourful costumes and protective gloves to lighten the event.

The first three winners were given a piglet to take home and keep as a pet or eat as they wish.

Thailand ranked highest in a global survey for its effective handling of the coronavirus pandemic and recovery from the crisis. There have been just two local transmissions of Covid-19 in more than 100 days.