A pensioner stuck in floodwater was rescued after a landslide hit his home in Thailand.

Poo Mee Yaem, 79, was looking for his wife in the kitchen when he heard a loud rumble until his house collapsed into the river in Phitsanulok province.

The old man tried to escape the chest-deep muddy floodwater but without success as his leg was stuck in the debris.

After almost half an hour of shouting for help, neighbours spotted him and rushed to call the rescue team who helped take him out.

His wife Luan Mi Yaem, 82, said: ‘It was raining all night and I woke up at around 5 am to cook breakfast and visited the temple.

‘I did not wait for him to wake up and left. I only knew what happened when I returned home from visiting the monks.’

The pensioner was taken to the hospital by rescue volunteers where he was being treated and is now in stable condition.

A local official said the overnight downpour may have loosened the soil and caused the house to give in to the river next to it.

He said: ‘The rain continued pouring overnight and the house was situated near a river so the soil must have eroded.’

Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are in the middle of their tropical monsoon rainy season, which lasts until October or November. Soaring temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius are often followed by powerful tropical storms with thunder, lightning, rain and flash floods which cause rivers to flow faster and become dangerous.