An ancient Chinese cemetery has become an unlikely attraction with residents playing and having picnics around old tombs.

Footage shows youngsters enjoying a game of basketball at the spawling Teochew Chinese Cemetery in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 5.

Other locals used the wide space for running and keeping in shape as they jogged around the compound, known as 'Wat Don', which was the burial site for Chinese immigrants when it was opened in 1900.

Government officials turned the 16-hectare cemetery into a park at the turn of the century because the area had a reputation for being spooky.

Some superstitious locals believe the cemetery is haunted by lonely ghosts who are still unhappy with being buried far away from their homeland in China.