Two of the houses were severely damaged from the impact but nobody was injured or killed in the incident, which happened shortly after 8am in Phra Padaeng district.

The 50-year-old Vietnamese captain of the 78-metre-long ship, the Star 62, told investigators that the engine had stopped working after a power outage, which caused him to lose control of the rudder while at a bend in the Chao Phraya River. The ship’s anchor was released, preventing it from moving further up the river bank.

The ship had left the Bangkok Port after unloading cargo from Singapore and was heading back to that country when the accident occurred.

Local resident Komol Kongkathip, 65, said if the anchor had not been dropped, the ship could have crashed into a home for the disabled people located slightly further inland.