This is the scary moment a wild elephant tried to chase away a national park officer in a forest road in northeastern Thailand.

Footage shows the stubborn jumbo named Pyo running after the pickup truck in Haew Narok area, Nakhon Ratchasima province on January 28.

The officer, Sutthiporn, said he had become friends with the elephant as it liked to hold up traffic and he always responded to clear the road.

He said: 'We were like best friends, but he was so stubborn. I was pushing him back to the forest but he made me leave instead.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild but there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages. A similar number of elephants are kept captive where they work in zoos and are hired out for religious festivals and weddings.