Homemade rockets roared along clotheslines as villagers competed in a rocket firing contest in Thailand.

Footage shows the DIY missiles leaving trails of thick smoke as they zipped across a field in Pathum Thani on May 1.

Twenty-two teams battled to hit signs at the end of the clotheslines for prizes.

Police Lieutenant General Kamronwit Toopkrachang, president of the Pathum Thani Provincial Administrative Organisation, oversaw the festivities held to boost tourism in the province.

The rocket-lighting festival stems from the local community's belief that it is inappropriate to personally light a senior monk's funeral pyre. Instead, small bamboo rockets are used as a sign of reverence.

The practice is said to have been passed down for centuries before evolving into a more raucous and competitive event.