This is the dramatic moment villagers rescued a cow stuck in a flooded canal.

The female bovine was grazing on a field when it slipped and fell down the slippery embankment of the irrigation channel in Nakhon Ratchasima, eastern Thailand, on Sunday.

Footage shows the farm animal battling against the powerful current as her owner, Boonsri, waded across the water to reach her.

The farmer tied a rope around her body, and she was later dragged to safety using a tow truck.

The relieved villager said his cattle were 'acting anxiously' before he noticed one of them was missing.

He said: 'When I counted the cows, I realised one was missing, so I went looking for her. I found she had fallen into an irrigation canal and was swept around a kilometre away.

'I jumped into the water and tied a rope around her neck to pull her out. If we had found her any later, she might have lost her strength and drowned. It took around 15 minutes to rescue her since there were not enough people, but luckily, a tow truck happened to pass by and stopped to help.'

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are at the start of their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms. The rudimentary infrastructure often struggles with the deluge, leading to widespread flash floods.