A Thai man was trying to hang his towel after a shower when he slipped and fell two storeys from his balcony onto a metal spike below which impaled his groin.

The spike penetrated about 18cm into his abdomen, and could be seen pressing against his skin from the inside, the Daily Mail reported on Tuesday (Dec 27).

It barely missed his penis and vital organs.

The accident, which took place in Pathum Thani, a central province of Thailand located north of Bangkok, saw Mr Patirat Punudom, 35, fall almost 10m.

He had just taken a shower at 2am on Friday (Dec 23), and had climbed onto the balcony ledge to hang his towel on a clothes line.

According to the Daily Mail report, his neighbours heard his cries for help and called rescue workers, who had to cut away the railing to free him.

A spokesman for the Ruamkatanyu Foundation said: "We arrived just after 2am and cut the railings away to free him. He almost died. The spike nearly hit important arteries. He could have bled to death."

The spokesman added that according to Mr Patirat's father, he hangs his towel like that every night, and simply slipped this one time.