Thai locals welcomed the new year by releasing nine adorable baby turtles into the sea during a boat festival in Thailand.

Villagers paraded colourful boats loaded with flowers and offerings along Bang Sak Beach in Phang Nga province on January 1, in a century-old tradition believed to ward off bad luck.

Monks from the Aphai Samut monastery prayed for peace and protection from evil, while residents threw sundry items like dried food, flowers, incense sticks, and even bits of nail and hair into the boats.

The revellers then hold a short procession on the shore before launching the boat into the sea.

After the ceremony, they then released nine green turtles in a bid to repopulate the waters with the reptiles.