Street vendors battled to save their stalls as driving rain and hail smashed into northern Thailand on Friday.

The sellers braved the heavy downpour as they rushed to close up their shops in Chiang Mai province on March 17.

The strong winds had blown away several styrofoam boxes, with the drenched vendors scrambling to cover their carts with tarps to protect their kitchenware from the raging storm.

A fierce hail storm ripped through the province a day after, damaging some 600 hundred homes and leaving at least 12 injured as high voltage power lines collapsed, roofs were dislodged and billboards and trees toppled over, authorities said.

Electricity was lost across more than half of Chiang Mai, the country's second largest city after the capital Bangkok, while dozens of cars were also damaged.

Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia are approaching their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms.