This is the dramatic moment an excavator tumbled down a cliff with its driver still inside - but incredibly they survived.

Footage shows the heavy equipment flipping over and falling downhill when it tried to roll off a truck's cargo bed while navigating the Doi Mae Salong hill in Chiang Rai, Thailand, on February 3.

The unnamed driver and owner of the excavator was still inside as it tumbled some 30 metres down the slope.

Bamboo trees had kept the vehicle from falling further, and the driver miraculously survived the accident. He was taken to a hospital and received 10 stitches on his head.

The injured driver's employer Ittichok Makpaew, 27, said the PC 130 excavator was bought from Nakhon Pathom province and was being transported to Chiang Rai.

However, the truck carrying the excavator caused traffic congestion as it had difficulties turning a sharp bend.

The owner reportedly tried to drive the excavator off the truck and onto the road to ease traffic but ended up tumbling down the cliff.

Chumpol Ruangsophontrakul, a local official in the village of Pha Duea where the accident happened, said: 'The road on Doi Mae Salong frequently sees accidents because it is curved and narrow.'

Authorities were towing the excavator, which was still being paid off, to see if it could still be repaired.

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.