This is the heartwarming moment an 8ft-long giant leatherback turtle waddled back into the sea after successfully laying her eggs on a beach in Thailand.

Footage shows beachgoers cheering in delight as the mother turtle returned to the ocean in Phuket island on December 10.

Lana Cosmos, who works nearby, said everyone was excited because it was the first time in months that a turtle had come back to the beach to lay eggs.

She said: "The beaches of Phuket are so clean now so turtles are back to lay the eggs. We are so happy to have witnessed such a special event."

The reptile arrived at Naithon Beach in the night where it dug a nest in the sand before laying her precious eggs.

Residents reported the turtle sighting which attracted people to return in the morning and watch it leave.

Leatherback turtles are the largest sea turtles named for their shell, which is leather-like instead of hard like other turtles.

The species have experienced a catastrophic 95 per cent decline in their Pacific nesting populations over the last several decades due to threats of entanglement in commercial fishing gear, poaching of turtles and turtle eggs from nesting beaches, and ingestion of plastics.