A trailer truck knocked down a footbridge causing traffic chaos on a highway in Thailand.

The lorry struck one half of the pedestrian walkway causing it to collapse and block the northbound side of the Asia Highway in Ang Thong province at around 7 am on January 7.

The driver, Adirek Chuenpon, 55, said he had just finished collecting gypsum in Ayutthaya and was returning to Nakhon Sawan province when the crash happened.

He said: 'I was driving the empty truck back when I heard a loud noise and noticed there was a large cloud of dust at the rear. I was lucky only the trailer was crushed and not the cabin.'

No injuries were reported, but the accident triggered severe traffic congestion stretching 10 kilometres along the highway as drivers waited for the road to be cleared.

Police rerouted traffic until the debris was removed around seven hours later at 2 pm.

Natthaporn Niamklink, chief of the Ang Thong highway office, said engineers will be inspecting the other half of the bridge. He said the bridge was expected to be usable again in three months.

Adirek was detained and charged with reckless driving resulting in damage to state property.

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.