Flash floods hit northern Thailand as the country enters the monsoon rainy season.

Footage shows raging waters battering a footbridge in Chiang Rai on May 21. The deluge also submerged a market in Mae Sai, which sees perennial floods as the nearby Mae Sai River swells during heavy downpours.

Several houses in the area were also flooded.

Local officials placed sandbags to stem the flooding, with plans to create a more permanent barrier in the future.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation today issued a flash flood warning across 52 Thai provinces, including Nakhon Ratchasima.

The severe weather was caused by a stronger southwest monsoon and a monsoon trough passing over northern Thailand and the upper part of southern Thailand.

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.