This is the spectacular moment six abseiling workers descended onto a Buddhist statue to clean a monk's giant bald head.

The cleaners dangled from a crane to scrub and repaint the stone monk in Wat Huay Mongkol temple in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand, on March 13.

Footage shows the men hanging over the 40ft-tall statue while wearing safety gear and scrubbing his shiny scalp with soapy brushes.

More than ten people took part in cleaning the statue - with six men volunteering to take care of the meditating monk's head while the others cleaned the base area.

The statue was is cleaned every year to maintain its shiny God-like appearance.

The elderly monk’s statue is 32ft-wide and 40ft-tall. Below the monk’s lap is a sprawling hall constructed for religious activities on special occasions.

Onlooker Supat Kaewari said: 'This is done every year to keep the statue clean. I’m glad we took part in this activity to help the temple.

'The crane company normally charges 120,000 THB (2,746 GBP) but for this occasion, they made a huge discount and charged 70,000 THB (1,602 GBP) only as an act of charity for Wat Huay Mongkol temple.'

More than 95 per cent of the population in Thailand practice Buddhism, as well as neighbouring countries Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.