This is the dramatic moment a wildlife officer was chased by an elephant that he was trying to drive away from a farm.

Conservationist volunteer Thanakiat Chairat was called to a sugarcane plantation after a wild jumbo was seen wandering and feasting on a local's crops in Chachoengsao province, just outside the Khao Ang Rue Nai Wildlife and Plant Conservation Area on February 22.

He and colleagues set off fireworks in strategic areas to guide the animal back to its habitat but it rampaged towards him first before making a beeline for the forest.

Aerial footage shows the jumbo running between sugarcane stalks as the firecrackers exploded and emerging into the dirt path where the wildlife officer was hiding.

He ran to the opposite direction while the elephant sprinted straight ahead and returned to the forest.

Thanakiat said: ‘There were three elephants seen in the area that day. The two returned to the forest easily, while one of them was stubborn. It almost trampled me, he was very close.'

Earlier this week, the Telegraph newspaper in London reported that there are 'elephants terrorising Thailand'.

The Eastern Elephants Education Centre has reportedly tracked 90 human fatalities caused by wild elephants in the region since 2018.