This is the dramatic moment a beached dolphin was rescued after being seen struggling to swim in shallow waters.

Officers of Khao Lampi-Hat Thai Mueang National Park were alerted after villagers saw the flailing creature washed up on a beach in Phang Nga, southern Thailand yesterday (June 9).

Initial examinations revealed that the stranded dolphin - estimated to be five feet long - was softly breathing with three cutting wounds on her mouth, fin, and beneath her right eye.

Footage shows two officers attempting to take the marine mammal back into the sea.

The bottlenose dolphin was too exhausted to swim against the big waves so the officials brought her back to the shore and contacted the medical staff at Phuket Marine Biological Center for help.

Residents, along with volunteers and national park officers, helped to douse the dolphin with water to keep her alive while waiting for the vets, who later arrived and took the mammal to the marine centre.

The dolphin was wrapped with a cloth soaked in water before being carried through the deep forest to the pickup truck. She is now fighting for her life at a nearby animal centre.

National Park chief Mongkol Lieuwiriyakul said the dolphin is having the administer tests and will be transferred to Fisheries Phangnga Center for recovery.

He said: ''We believe that the dolphin got stranded near the shore because she was too injured and too weak to swim in the stormy weather. She could be dead if we let her go back now.

''The team are checking her blood to see if she has any infections. It might take at least two weeks for the dolphin to fully recover before being released back into the wild.''