Six people were arrested for allegedly looting beer from a train that was stranded during floods in southern Thailand.

The locals were said to have broken into the locomotive before hauling away crates of alcohol from the rail containers in Hat Yai on November 27.

Police said the six looting suspects were detained as officers tracked them down through CCTV footage. Punishment for allegedly taking advantage of a tragedy is understood to be more severe.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Piyawat Chalermsri, commissioner of the Provincial Police Bureau 9, said: 'It is considered as committing a criminal offence in a flood-affected area, which carries a heavier penalty than usual under Criminal Code Sections 334 and 335.

‘We will take strict legal action to prevent anyone from taking advantage to commit an offence and worsen the suffering of civilians.'

The men were caught on camera carrying the stolen goods across the railway, where damaged cars were piled on the trackside after the floods receded.

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.'

Authorities said the freight train was carrying 7,560 boxes of beer, with total losses estimated at more than four million baht (94,242 GBP). Some 65 crates have been recovered.

Local media reported that a brewery and a convenience store in the area had also been looted as floodwaters subsided.

The death toll reached 176 as the catastrophic floods, described by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul as 'the worst flooding in 15 years', swept through southern Thailand.

The premier on Saturday apologised for the government's bungled flood response amid public outrage, telling them 'that the government was unable to take care and protect them'.

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.

The Southern Eastern Meteorological Centre said a strong monsoon trough had caused the heavy rainfall.

Thailand and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia are in their annual monsoon rainy season which sees soaring temperatures followed by powerful rain storms in the afternoon leading to widespread flash floods.

(1 GBP = 42.44 THB)