A hungry wild elephant rummaged through rubbish bins while looking for food in a village in Thailand.

The dwarf elephant named Plai Khang was spotted in Ban Tha Maprang village on September 21, situated near the Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima province where the wild elephants lived.

Park officials identified the trespasser as Plai Khang, a dwarf elephant who was between 25 to 27 years old. It strutted into the village twice to eat bananas and betel nuts, reportedly causing significant damage to village property.

Footage shows the starving jumbo desperately looking for edibles in a bin containing assorted pieces of trash such as boxes and leaves.

The elephant reportedly roamed the villager further but did not harm anyone and returned to the forest after searching for more food.

Khao Yai National Park chief Adisak Phusitwongsanuyut said: ‘We acknowledge the difficulties of reining in the wild elephants so we are working with more plans to help them.

Wildlife protection officers have been deployed to the subdistricts of Klang Dong, Mu Si, and Pong Ta Long to help corral the large animals.

Meanwhile, Khao Yai National Park staff called on the public to not harm the elephants when they leave the park.

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.