Struggling Thai Airways is selling street food in a desperate attempt to balance the books during the pandemic - and locals are queuing round the block every morning to buy it.

The flag carrier sells pieces of fried dough - known locally as Pa Tong Go - with steamed purple custard for 50 baht (1.25GBP).

Hundreds of hungry locals have been seen queuing from 4am every morning for the breakfast snack. The stall opens at 6am but staff said they are sold out within two hours.

Thai Airways - which staved off bankruptcy after a court approved a debt rehabilitation plan this month - claims it earns 400,000 baht (10,000GBP) a day, or 10m baht (250,000GBP) a month from the stall.

However, it has some way to go to recoup its losses. The airline, which lost the equivalent of 300 million GBP in 2019, is being chased by creditors who may even seize their jets.

Airline acting president Chansin Treenuchagorn said the company was trying to boost its catering business to earn extra income and survive the pandemic, which has obliterated international airline travel in Thailand due to the country's strict border closures since March 22.

The airline chief said: ''The fried dough has been so popular, we may expand the business through franchises and reach more customers around the country.''

Thai Airways, or THAI, has lost money in every year but one since 2013 and now has outstanding debt of 250 billion baht.

Exasperated ministers have been unable to stem the losses, which have been made worse by the coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic with health chiefs refusing to re-open the country's borders to holidaymakers.