This is the astonishing moment a wild monkey stole food from a tourist's jet ski on a Thai beach.

The cheeky primate emerged when Vittorio Cordani from Italy and other holidaymakers parked the machines on the sand in Phuket on Monday afternoon.

Footage shows how the clever creature climbed onto the vehicle and opened a storage compartment. It rummaged around before tossing aside a bottle of water.

The monkey then made off with a blue packet of dried fruit - returning to nearby rocks where other monkeys were waiting.

Astonished tourist Vittorio, a businessman from Bibione in Veneto, captured the amusing incident on his phone while visiting the popular holiday island on January 9.

He said: 'I was surprised by how clever the monkey was. He knew exactly how to open the jet ski storage and get the important goods.'

Thailand has large numbers of wild monkeys around the country.