A wild elephant stopped traffic on a busy forest road in Thailand.

The male jumbo named Plai Boonchuay checked out each of the vehicles that passed through the concrete path in Phetchaburi province on December 5.

Scared drivers were caught in a jam as they were instructed by officers to turn off their engines and let the creature walk along calmly.

Footage shows the cars stalled on the congested route as the elephant walked by.

Tourist Jaroen Lokruam said: ‘The elephant is big. At first we were scared but they're not as aggressive as we thought.'

Jaroen added that the jumbo Plai Boonchuay eventually disappeared back to the forest while the rangers guided him.

He added: ‘He left peacefully and no cars were damaged. We really just needed to follow the safety rules.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild where they wander freely among protected forests. However, there is often 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.