A football coach survived when his car was hit by an oncoming train on a level crossing.

Kraiwit Hirunueaworakul, 36, said his Suzuki Ertiga was trapped on the railroad as he was trying to drive to the other side in Chonburi, Thailand on November 19.

The sports coach tried to abandon the vehicle but within last seconds decided to just drive it to the right so that only the rear of his car would by crushed.

He was not seriously hurt while the freight train carrying diesel wrecked the back portion of the car.

Picture shows the scene after the crash. Kraiwit was taken to an ambulance where he was checked by medics. His head was bleeding when he was hurtled to the dashboard as the impact hit.

Police also arrived to investigate and interview the train driver as well as the football coach.

Kraiwit said: 'I was trying to cross but the barriers lowered suddenly. I tried moving backwards and forwards to escape but there was a car in front of me.

'I also honked to tell the other drivers in front to hurry but it was too late.'

Aside from head wounds, he had bruises all over his body and was taken to Banglamung Hospital.

The train driver Thawatchai, 39, said he was on his way to Rayong when it happened. His train was seen stopped 164 ft (50 m) away when authorities arrived.

Police Lieutenant Ratchapol Seneewong Na Ayutthaya of Bang Lamung Police Station said: 'We received the alert at 7pm. We have inspected the scene and recorded it as evidence.

'We will summon both the victim and the train driver for questioning before proceeding with legal action.'

Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in Asia, Thailand suffers from chronic underinvestment in its highways and education, contributing to its poor road safety levels. Only a handful of African countries are worse.

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.