A passenger aircraft has skidded off the runway and crashed as it came into land in heavy rain at the Thai resort island of Koh Samui.

The flight, said to be carrying mostly foreign tourists, came down on Tuesday afternoon.

There have been no reports on numbers of casualties so far.

According to the AFP news agency the plane, a turboprop aircraft belonging to Bangkok Airways was on a flight from the southwestern town of Krabi.

Some reports have said the plane hit the control tower after it came off the runway.

An official at the airport said there were approximately 70 people on board the plane.