Drought-hit farmers performed a dance march dressed as cats to pray for rain.

The agricultural workers have seen their rice crops dwindle this year due to the lack of water in Nakhon Nayok, central Thailand.

They decided to stage ritual making 'meow' sounds and with whiskers painted onto their faces to please the Gods and give them rain.

Footage from June 7 shows the bizarre farmers parade, with many carrying cat dolls in litter.

One of the representatives said that their crops were damaged twice and they could not afford to lose more.

He said: "We are relying on a seasonal rain which has not yet come like it used to.

"We normally plant the seeds in the same period each year and this year we have done the same but there was no rain so we may have to lose our seeds again.

"We have lost too much money, so we decided to do the ritual because perhaps it might help with the rain."

He added that this time they used the ceramic cat doll so they would not have to harm a real-life feline.

He said: "The original ritual is to carry a cat in a litter to sacrifice to the spirit but we think it would be animal abuse so we used the cat doll instead."