This is the terrifying moment an elephant charged at a tourist's car on a mountain road in Thailand.

The wild creature was wandering along the highway when driver Chalermpon Pinsupha passed by the area in Khao Yai national park in Nakhon Ratchasima province on October 6.

Upon noticing the vehicle, the bull stopped and stared at the car before running towards it with trunks raised.

Footage shows the jumbo approaching the car, but then it stops and observes the passerby instead.

Tourist Chalermpon said: 'I have driven through the national park many times, but this is the first time I saw an elephant. It was so big.

'I thought I was going to have a heart attack, but when I saw the jumbo flapping its ears, I realised it was maybe in a good mood.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protect forests. However, there is often conflict when they come into contact with humans on roads and in villages.

A similar number of elephants are kept in captivity where they work in the tourist industry or get hired out for religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.