A wild elephant searched the back of a truck while holding up traffic at a road in Thailand.

Footage shows the male jumbo checking out the content of the silver pickup in Phetchaburi province on January 11.

The drivers had to stop and let the animal stop as he strolled along the road.

After sniffing on the truck, the jumbo left it alone and went on walking.

Driver Prichart Chukaew who was about 25ft-away from the pickup truck said: ‘We were travelling home from a relative when we were asked to stop because an elephant showed up.

‘We had to follow the park rangers to keep everyone safe but the elephant appeared very gentle.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protected forests. Male Asian elephants, unlike African elephants, roam alone once they are over 10 years old while females remain with the herd.

There is sometimes conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages so wildlife rangers are tasked with monitoring their movements.

A similar number of elephants in the country are also kept in captivity to work in the tourist industry or at religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.