This is the heart-stopping moment a speeding truck missed locals by mere inches when its driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel'.

Footage shows residents unloading plastic bags from a parked pick-up truck in front of their store when the larger vehicle roared into the scene in Chiang Rai province, Thailand, on January 5.

The truck slammed into the pick-up's rear and dragged it along the tarmac as the stunned vendors watched it zoom past them.

The unnamed truck driver, who emerged from the crash unscathed, claimed he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

There were no injuries reported from the collision.

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 along with notoriously easy driving tests, police failures to enforce road laws, and chronic under-investment in infrastructure, all appear to hamper the efforts.