A pet owner drowned while trying to rescue his beloved dog from a pond in Thailand.

Boonmee Chuensonthi, 67, plunged into the 12ft-deep reservoir after seeing his pooch Cola paddling in the water at an orchard in Chanthaburi province, on February 2.

The animal lover jumped into the pool without hesitation but soon found himself struggling to climb back out of the slippery tarp-lined pond. Exhausted, he sank under the murky surface.

The orchard owner Chatpol Ketchart, 24, later found Cola still swimming in the reservoir when he arrived to collect water for his plants. He dragged the pooch to safety, but failed to notice Boonmee's hat floating among the rafts of duckweed.

Boonmee's family went searching for him in the orchard when he failed to return home in the afternoon. They found his boots and watering can near the edge of the pond and called for a rescue team, fearing he had drowned.

Footage shows volunteers sliding into the dark green reservoir after Chatpol had drained some of the water to facilitate the search. They found Boonmee at the bottom of the pond and hoisted him up on a stretcher.

His niece, Areerat Chuensonthi, 55, said he had likely drowned trying to save Cola when it fell into the water.

She said: 'My uncle was a dog lover and he often adopted strays. He had risked his life before trying to save a dog. We warned him not to do it again. We didn't think he would ignore us and die this way.'

Pond owner Chatpol added: 'In the morning, I went to the garden to pump water for my garden as usual, and I found the dog swimming and struggling in the pond.

'I thought it must have been playing when it fell, so I rushed down to help it. I didn't know there was another person in the pond who had drowned.'