This is the shocking moment locals looted beer from a cargo train that was stranded during floods in southern Thailand.

Footage shows the halted locomotive as residents carried boxes of alcohol taken from the vehicle in Hat Yai, Songkhla province, on November 27.

Thousands of bottles were in the haul that was being transported from a factory to a distribution centre when floods forced the service to be abandoned due to the deluge that had killed at least 170 people.

Resident Bahanu Lotong said: 'People rushed in as soon as the floodwaters receded. Four containers had been stranded there since the flooding, and when the area became accessible, everyone just grabbed whatever they could.

'But it turned out they took boxes of beer. For those beer drinkers, it felt like heaven.'

On the trackside, cars were seen piled on top of each other, some crushed and badly damaged by the floods.

Local media reported that police have arrested six men accused of breaking into a freight train container and stealing crates of beer.

Authorities confirmed the four containers were carrying 7,560 boxes of beer, with total losses estimated at more than four million baht (94,515 GBP).

Police also recovered 65 crates of booze believed to be part of the stolen shipment.

The detained suspects have been charged with 'theft committed by two or more persons in a flood-affected area, by damaging barriers, or receiving stolen property'. An investigation is ongoing.

The death toll reached 170 as the catastrophic floods, described by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as 'the worst flooding in 15 years', swept through southern Thailand.

Songkhla province suffered the highest death toll, with 131 fatalities. Hat Yai district was among the worst-hit areas, recording a staggering 13 inches (335 mm) of rainfall in a single day on November 21.

Songkhla Governor Ratthasart Chidchoo on Monday declared all 16 districts disaster zones and ordered the immediate evacuation of children, the elderly, and the sick.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said that floods hit nine southern provinces, affecting some 1,128,284 households and 3,221,958 people.

The Southern Eastern Meteorological Centre said a strong monsoon trough was causing the heavy rainfall, which was expected to ease this week.