This is the heart-stopping moment a jaywalking schoolboy narrowly avoided an oncoming pick-up truck on a highway.

The pupil was seen trying to cross the road in front of the Wangnamyen Wittayakom School in Sa Kaeo, Thailand, on June 12.

Dashcam footage shows the youngster darting towards the centre of the highway before stumbling backwards upon seeing the vehicle rushing towards him.

The boy was safe and retreated back to the pavement after the near-miss accident.

Onlooker Wachira Sutharos, a teacher at the Banpraploeng School, said: 'Drivers should reduce their speed when passing through school zones. Pedestrians should also be careful and use the designated crossing. The boy was lucky this time, but others may not be as fortunate.'

Following the incident, concerned locals urged authorities to install footbridges, road markings, and traffic lights along the road to avoid crashes in the area.

Police Colonel Chanonphat Sirilert, the superintendent of the Wang Nam Yen Police Station, said he had proposed a solution during a district meeting but action was yet to be taken.

He said: 'For the time being, the band-aid solution was to place traffic cones in the vicinity of the school and market during the evening. These cones are collected before nightfall to minimise the risk of accidents.'

Thailand has one of the world's worst road safety records. Ministers have set the goal of reducing fatalities from 32.7 deaths per 100,000 people to 12 per 100,000 people by the year 2027.

However, a lack of road safety education in schools, cheap loans for cars, notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws as well as endemic corruption and chronic under-investment in infrastructure hamper the efforts.