A terrified driver prayed as a wild elephant stomped toward her car in Thailand.

Anniya Jullabuddee had been driving along a road in Chaiyaphum province when she saw the jumbo approaching her vehicle on November 19.

Afraid to spook the animal, she parked the car on the roadside and began to pray as it trundled closer 'with an angry appearance'. She waited until the elephant walked past before continuing her drive.

She said: 'This is my third encounter with a wild elephant on the road. There are many elephants in Thailand, and they all need a lot of food. This one must have been hungry so it emerged from the forest to search for a meal.'

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.