Wild elephants were spotted destroying crops in a village in Thailand.

The herd was believed to have emerged from the forest and began searching for food in a coconut farm near houses in Surat Thani province on January 1.

When they could not find anything edible, the jumbos tugged on the trees and stepped on them before pulling the coconut shoots to eat.

Footage shows a four-year-old male elephant knocking down a single tree before pulling the soft coconut shoots with its trunk.

Terrified villagers watched from a distance as the animals demolished their farm while some of their neighbours tried to scare away the jumbos with firecrackers but without success.

Village official Sattaya Buajan said: 'If one elephant is eating down here, the rest of the herd could be nearby. I believe this elephant came down to explore the land to bring the other elephants down at night.

'The elephants are familiar with people so they would ignore the villager’s shouts and leave only when they finish. More than 5 hectares of coconut and palm plantations have already been damaged by the elephants so far.'

The herd was estimated to have been composed of 40 jumbos that had recently migrated to the area so locals were advised to stay alert while authorities work on relocating the animals.

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.

Staff from the country’s National Park – the sprawling area of protected woodland where wild elephants live – believe the animals have changed their behaviour in response to the food readily available from humans.