Locals paraded a stuffed toy cat inside a cage to call for rain in a bizarre procession in Thailand.

The event, called 'Hae Nang Maew' literally meaning 'cat parade', was held amid the annual Rocket Festival in the Wat Sawetwan Wanaramin Klasin of agricultural Kalasin province on May 28.

During the ceremony, a feline plushie trapped in a wooden cage was paraded around the streets while residents sang and danced around it.

Wannawat Julburom, chief of the Nua Subdistrict Administrative Organisation in Kalasin, said organisers had opted to use a stuffed toy instead of a real cat to prevent causing distress to the animals.

He said: 'In our culture, cats are considered sacred animals believed to possess mysterious powers. Their colours sometimes resemble clouds, making them a fitting symbol in the rain-calling ceremony.'

He added that locals believed cats' cries were harbingers of rain as they had an aversion to water.

Traditionally, moggies were 'made to cry' by being doused with water during the Hae Nang Maew parade, symbolically signaling the coming of rain.

Aside from the cat procession, the residents also performed spectacular street dances and launched homemade PVC rockets during the annual Rocket Parade or 'Bun Bang Fai' - which is another form of rain-calling.

Wannawat said the events were held as farmers in the northeastern agricultural region of Thailand prepared for the rainy season.

Thailand's Rocket Festival is held annually to honour Phaya Thaen, the Buddhist deity of rainmaking, as farmers and villagers pray for rain for a bountiful harvest. They believe the rockets will reach the clouds and help to stimulate impending monsoon downpours, which last until October or November.

Authorities also hope to pass down the decades-long tradition by organising spectacular shows that will fire the imaginations of younger residents.

The Thailand Meteorological Department declared the official start of the rainy monsoon season on May 22.

The period sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.