This kid's hiding place was so good his parents thought he was missing - and had to be rescued by firemen.

Five-year-old Kunanon Kantapa climbed inside the washing machine while playing hide and seek with his sister in their home in Songkhla province, Thailand, on October 16.

The little boy waited for his sister to find him, but 30 minutes later, the worried sister told her parents his baby brother was nowhere to be found inside the house.

The youngster also wouldn't answer his family while they searched for him. They spent two hours searching for him before hearing him shouting for help from inside the machine.

Worried mum Poonsri Kantapa, 31, said: ‘We thought he went out of the house because he didn't make a sound while inside the washing machine.

‘We only found him when he cried for help, saying he could not climb out.'

A rescue team arrived at the family's home, inside a construction site dorm, as the boy's mother still could not take remove him on her own.

A rescuer said the washing machine was too small for the boy's body, and was panicking, which made him stuck.

Volunteers soothed the boy so he would relax, and he was lifted out of the appliance in under five minutes.

Mum-of-two Poonsri said: 'We didn't think of looking inside the washing machine because we didn't know he would fit inside. The lid was closed too.

‘I m relieved he was unhurt, and the helpful firemen went here to help us.'

The boy and his mother thanked the rescuers. He also promised not to climb inside the washing machine again.