Charn Jarikarn, 46, spotted the exhausted adult bottlenose washed up on the sand.
The two-metre long creature had been separated from its pod and blown off course into shallow waters after heavy rains in August at Hula Beach in Phang Nga province, Thailand.
Hotel owner Charn spotted the stranded dolphin and raced to help but struggled to lift the 250kg fish back into the ocean.
Frantic walkers joined him and eventually carried the whimpering dolphin – nicknamed ‘lucky’ by locals – back into the choppy Andaman sea.
‘Lucky’ splashes around for a while struggling to gain composure but soon darts away through the surf to look for family.
VIDEO: Passers-by rescue beached dolphin after storm