This is the emotional moment a newborn baby boy was found after being abandoned on a building site.

The infant was left on the ground wrapped in towels with his umbilical cord still attached and placed in a handbag on the ground in Chonburi, Thailand, on June 15 at 2.30pm.

Workman Rong La, 40, went to the toilet and said he heard a scratching sound that he thought was a small animal

He said: ''I walked down the path to get to the toilet and heard a sound like an animal nearby. I dismissed it but it kept going, so I started listening. It continued so I thought 'that's no animal, it sounds like a baby'.

''I looked around in the bushes and saw the handbag. There was a baby inside and he was waving his fist about in the air. I picked him up and took him back to the building site to ask colleagues to call the police.''

Builders gathered round to check on the tot, which they said stopped crying as soon as he was found.

Police and paramedics arrived and cleaned up the youngster before he was taken to the hospital to be checked over.

Police Captain Somkid Boonloy vice deputy of Sriracha police station said the baby had scratch marks on his neck.

He said: ''We believe the baby had been there since the night before. His body was still covered in dried blood and it had the umbilical cord attached.

''When he was rescued he stopped crying. He knew that he was safe now. He has pale skin and he is healthy.''

The baby has been taken into the care of the Queen Savang Vadhana Memorial Hospital while officers try to find the mother.