Thai relief workers brought in some serious muscle on Sunday to help them reach residents cut off by severe flooding in the north of the country.

Two elephants helped support a team of volunteers to reach a community in Saraphi district, about 20 kilometres outside the city of Chiang Mai.

The towering beasts strode seemingly untroubled through water levels that were waist-deep for humans.

The floods were caused by heavy monsoon rainfall causing the River Ping, that runs through Chiang Mai, to overflow its banks.