This is the bizarre moment locals carried on eating through floods at a barbecue restaurant as typhoon Dianmu battered central Thailand.

Footage shows the waves crashing into the tables as customers enjoyed their food next to the overflowing Chao Phraya river in Nonthaburi province on October 1.

Waitress Nong Joy: ‘This sort of thing happens every year but the water has been especially high this time.’

At least seven people have died and tens of thousands more are still stranded receiving aid from rescue groups. Ten provinces in Thailand, including Chaiyaphum, have been inundated by Dianmu, according to the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department of Thailand. The Thai Meteorological Department said rainfall is expected to subside within the week.

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.