A wild elephant searched through a car while a family cowered inside.

Footage shows the jumbo walking towards the sedan after blocking traffic on a mountain road in Chachoengsao province, Thailand, on April 11.

As the tourists were advised to stop their engine, the group was stuck on the roadside as the creature sniffed around them.

Motorist Panadda, who was inside the stopped vehicle with her family, said: ‘We were on our way home, but the animal was causing the slow traffic. When it went near us, we couldn't do anything but wait until it was gone.'

The elephant eventually left the car, and traffic returned to normal. No one was hurt nor reported damage in the incident.

Thailand has an estimated 2,000 Asian elephants living in the wild - down from 100,000 a century ago - and around 3,000 in captivity owned privately. In the wild they are seen wandering freely among protected forests, occasionally appearing on the roads that run through them.

There is conflict when they come into contact with humans on rural roads and in villages so wildlife rangers are tasked with monitoring their movements.