A German teenager drowned while swimming in a pond with his friends in Thailand.

The dual national youngster, identified by police only as Phayu, 15, was paddling in a 15ft-deep reservoir in Pattaya when he suffered severe leg cramps on his way back to the shore.

He lagged behind his pals, gasping as he tried to soldier through the pain.

His friends, who had already made it back to land, said they turned around upon hearing strange gurgling noises, only to find Phayu struggling to stay afloat several feet away.

They jumped back into the pond to try to save him, but he was said to have sunk into the cloudy green pool.

Rescue teams arrived at the scene after receiving an emergency call at 8 pm on Thursday.

Footage shows divers in scuba gear venturing into the opaque depths as Phayu's worried friends watched from the bank.

They swept across the pond, using poles to prod the deeper parts, before finally locating Phayu's body after 20 minutes. He was reportedly found floating face-down at the muddy bottom of the reservoir.

Police said there were no signs of assault on his body.

Police Captain Surachai Chuaykhoon, deputy chief of the Nong Prue Police Station, said: 'We believe the group had been swimming together since around 5 pm, and the accident happened around two hours later. It's likely the boy suffered a cramp while swimming back to shore, which caused him to go under.

'I've instructed the rescue team to take his body to Pattaya Bhattamakun Hospital, where it will be kept until the family collects it.'