Eleven devotees were injured when elephants charged through crowds at a Buddhist festival in Thailand.

The three jumbos were carrying young lads on their backs during a ceremony to ordain them as trainee monks at a temple in Buriram province on Saturday afternoon December 17.

Loud music being played from pickup trucks joining the parade caused one of the beasts, a five-year-old bull, to become agitated.

Onlookers said the animal began 'breathing heavily' before breaking ranks from the others and rampaging through the crowds of locals.

One elderly woman was seriously injured when she was knocked to the ground and her hip was trampled while 10 other people were also attacked by the bull.

Shocked participant Supranee Maliwan, 61, said he suffered a broken arm during the rampage.

He added: 'I was walking at the front of the convoy and the three elephants were following each other but one of them began breathing heavily and grunting. He was smaller than the others and sounded like he was upset.

'Suddenly, that elephant charged toward the crowd. I could not escape. I had to lie still and hope I was not hurt but my arm was struck.'

Organisers said that five youngsters were being ordained as monks. Three of the families hired elephants to join the religious parade and the two other boys rode in pickup trucks. More than 1,000 people were taking part in the ceremony.

Onlooker Pranom Chaitrong, 63, added: 'I was very shocked because I did not think the elephant would jump out like that. They were frightened and did not like the noise. Also, there were young children putting money under the elephants' bellies, but they have already been told not to do this because it can scare the elephants.'

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild and a similar number in captivity where they work in the tourist industry or at religious festivals and weddings. A small number still work in commercial logging.

Animal rights groups such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have been campaigning for a number of years to prevent elephants from being used at religious festivals and weddings.

However, locals claim that working with elephants is part of the country's culture dating back hundreds of years to when they were used in battles.