A hungry wild elephant reached into a passing pickup truck - using its trunk to grab lunch.

The jumbo stopped the vehicle when it was driving on a road in Prachuap Khiri Khan, southern Thailand, on August 20.

Footage taken by a driver who was travelling behind shows the animal strolling on one lane and heading to the vehicle before rummaging through their cargo.

The passengers piled in the back were stunned and could only let the elephant dig its trunk into pots and boxes before successfully finding a grain bag.

As the animal ate the rice, the trucks moved along slowly, but the team of caterers who served food at an event were unable to have rice for breakfast.

As of 2023, there are an estimated 3,084-3,500 wild elephants in Thailand. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century. The main threats to wild elephants in Thailand are habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and conflict with humans.