A pet cat that had been missing for three days was found stuck at the top of a 50ft tall coconut tree in Thailand.

The hapless eight-year-old feline named Thong K had disappeared from owner Somsri Hoonthanom's house on January 30, prompting her to search the neighbourhood in Trat province - to no avail.

Resigned that her pet would not return, Somsri went to a shrine to pray on February 2, but was surprised to hear loud cat wails from the direction of a coconut plantation as she was walking.

To her surprise, she found the ginger moggie resting on the fronds of a tall coconut tree in the orchard.

She called for a rescue team to retrieve the trapped cat - which turned out to be perfectly capable of climbing back down on its own.

As the rescuers set up a stepladder, Thong K nimbly clambered down the tree's trunk before sprinting away.

Somsri said: 'About three days ago, Thong K went missing. I couldn't find him no matter how much I looked.

'I think he climbed the tree to escape from wild dogs that were chasing him.'