A rider was rescued after he was swept away by a flash flood while crossing a bridge following heavy rain in Thailand.

Sarayut Watthanakon, 21, had reached the middle of the bridge in Prachuap Khiri Khan province, when he realised the water was more than 2ft-deep on May 23.

The rider lost his balance and the force of the water pushed him towards the raging river.

Locals and onlookers rushed to save him until he reached the shallows around 100metres away from the bridge while rescuers battled to pull his motorbike off the water the next day May 24.

Relieved rider Sarayut said: ‘I thought my motorbike could cross safely but the water rose quickly. The water dragged me away and I was lucky to have been swept into the riverbanks.’

With the help of rescue volunteers, Sarayut returned to the river the next day and searched for the submerged motorbike.

They finally found it caught in a flooded bush. A rescuer used a rubber ring attached to ropes to cross the flood and secure the two-wheeler which was pulled back onto land.

The rider, unhurt from the incident, thanked the rescuers and took his motorbike to a repair shop.


Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are at the start of their tropical monsoon rainy season, which last until late 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.

Many of the under-developed nations struggle to cope with the heavy rain due to under-investment infrastructure.