This is the astonishing moment hundreds of locals ignored severe flooding and visited a market.

The street was covered in muddy water after heavy rain from the northeast monsoon battered Yala, southern Thailand, last week.

Water had still not subsided but locals were not willing to wait. They held their weekend market as normal on Saturday (Jan 9) and stall holders and visitors had to wade through the deluge.

Onlooker, Yari, said: ‘Everyone was happy despite the wet conditions. We have to carry on as we need to buy food.’

Thailand’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said that residents in at least 40,000 homes in the southern provinces of Yala, Songklha, Narathiwat and Pattani, have been moved to safety.

They said that at least one person has died and 100,000 people have been affected in the region. Flooded communities have been given water pumps survival kits, while local officials are gauging the damage to public infrastructure and people’s houses.

The Department of Fisheries also released fish at the dam prior to the opening of the floodgates so they could breed in the river.