A fisherman was rescued from a capsized boat during a storm in Thailand.

Somchai Ya Kongsun, 58, was securing his boat with ropes during a flash flood that overflowed a river in Prachuap Khiri Khan province on May 10.

However, the ropes he tied snapped while he was on the boat and was quickly swept away along the raging river until it was overturned.

Shocked neighbours quickly threw a rope towards the boat’s direction as it overturned repeatedly until the fisherman was able to catch it and was dragged ashore.

His neighbour Gaysorn Channoi, 45, said: ‘We were all trying to salvage our boats. Some of our friends were already crying because their boats have already been destroyed or swept away by the water.

‘Then we saw that he was swept away, we panicked until someone threw a rope and everybody helped to pull him.’

The fisherman was given treatment for minor scratches and bumps but he was not seriously hurt. He said that it was the first time that it happened to their village.

He said: ‘I have never seen anything like that before. I have been a fisherman since I knew how to work. It was devastating to see our boats become destroyed like that but I am still grateful that I survived.’

The boats destroyed reportedly cost more than 1 million baht (23,536 GBP). A total of eight boats were damaged with two of them being totally wrecked beyond repair.

Residents were now urging local government officials to extend financial assistance to affected families.

A freak storm had battered several districts in Prachuap Khiri Khan for five days straight. On May 6, more than 100 homes were damaged in the Ao Noi subdistrict.

The local government have warned residents to stay alert as more weather disturbances are expected to happen as the country enters the wet season.