Officials were investigating today after part of a plane was found washed up on a beach in southern Thailand - conjuring memories of missing flight MH370.

Residents noticed the large chunk of the aircraft's fuselage while they were collecting litter and scavenging for items in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on Monday, March 14.

The mystery object is 1.8 meters wide, 3.16 meters long, and weighed between 70-80 kilograms. Traces of burn marks could also been seen in two places.

The part was also lined with a honeycomb-like material and the serial number 'CCBU 07Z2' was marked on the metal.

Local government officials are now storing the fragment of the aircraft in a warehouse before aviation experts arrive to identify it.

Local council chief Pramote Ruangdit believes that the burn marks indicate the aircraft exploded before hitting the sea.

He said: 'We have taken pictures of the metal part and sent them to aviation experts. They are 80 per cent sure it is from an aircraft.

'The piece is being protected and stored carefully. When the villagers found it there were barnacles on the metal so we think it had been in the water for a long time. They called the local authority office immediately.'

The mystery find raises memories of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing-777 that went missing on March 8, 2014. A similar piece of aircraft was found in the same area of Thailand in late January 2016.