This is the instant karma moment a bee hunter was trapped on a burning tree after setting fire to a beehive.

Sukrit had secretly climbed a tree to collect honey from a bee nest near the Wat Mengrai Maharaj temple in Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand on March 26.

He waved a torch trying to drive the swarm away, but accidentally started a wildfire when the sparks ignited dry leaves on the forest floor.

Sukrit screamed as he was divebombed by the furious insects while trapped on flimsy tree branches high above the ground.

Firefighters rushed to the temple after receiving a report at 3:48 pm. They found the villager exhausted as he gripped the tree while thick smoke billowed towards him.

The officers first doused the ground with water before using a cherry picker to collect the terrified local. He was placed on a gurney and rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Chan Thawatchai, 50, an undertaker at the temple's crematorium, said: 'I was working when I heard someone shouting.

'I ran over and saw the man stuck in the tree with fire below him. I quickly called the fire department for help.

'The man tried to hunt bees despite it being a prohibited activity here. He must have been inexperienced too.'

Rescue volunteer Pannawich Chanthaboon said Sukrit was barely conscious when he was found.

He said: 'The man had already inhaled a lot of smoke, and he also appeared to have been stung multiple times. If we hadn't reached him in time, it could have been fatal.'