This is the heart-stopping moment a soldier's parachute failed during a military exercise in Thailand.

Footage shows the paratrooper free-falling as the faulty safety gear fluttered limp in the air in Nakhon Si Thammarat, on May 19.

The level-headed soldier managed to deploy his reserve parachute before he could crash into a pond below.

Officers later rescued the troop floating in the water unharmed.

Onlooker Wetanya Ketkaew said the incident happened during routine army drills at Fort Wachirawut.

He said: 'The paratroopers had leapt from a helicopter, but one of them was falling faster than the others because he couldn't open his parachute.

'I was so shocked that I ran and tried to inform the other soldiers in the area. It turns out the soldier managed to land safely on the ground. He had fallen into a pond, but he was alive.'