A drunk man was skewered by a harpoon while drinking beer with his friends.

Wattana Sookkaew, 35, was enjoying a night out with his buddies chugging bottles of alcohol when one of his friends brought out a harpoon gun to play with in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on June 21.

However, as the men were fooling around with the deadly weapon, the one-foot-long harpoon discharged and plunged just below Wattana's sternum and emerged through his back.

He was rushed to the Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, where volunteers were called to shorten the metal projectile before surgery.

Video shows rescuers using a plasma cutter to saw off the harpoon sticking out near Wattana's stomach.

Doctors then performed an operation and safely removed the skewer from his body.

Wattana's family said the friend who had accidentally shot him has been taken to the Sung Noen Police Station for questioning.

The harpoon gun used for fishing was also confiscated by police.

In March, a fisherman in the same province had to undergo surgery after also being shot by his friend with a harpoon.

Hapless angler Sujit Klingtalay, 45, had a row with one of his friends while drinking. The friend then grabbed the harpoon, aimed it at Sujit's head, and fired, lodging the sharp piece of metal near the base of Sujit's head.

After a successful surgery that saved his life, forgiving Sujit said he has not pressed charges against the shooter.

While last November, a teenage Thai boy miraculously survived shooting himself in the head with a harpoon.

Chayathorn Thankrathok had been fishing with his friends at a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province when he fired the harpoon into the water - only for it to rebound toward his face.

The steel object was buried between his eyebrows, and he was rushed to the Chakkarat Hospital, where surgeons successfully removed it.