A rampaging wild elephant raided a restaurant while it was looking for food in Thailand.

The hungry jumbo named Plai Biang Lek, 23, had woken up from its nap and shuffled over to the small eatery to have its dinner in Nakhon Ratchasima province on February 12.

Footage shows Plai Biang Lek loitering in the outdoor kitchen, which had emptied of rice and leftover food. Plastic chairs, bottles, and kitchenware were strewn on the floor as the wild animal squeezed itself out of the cramped space.

Volunteers pushed the ravenous pachyderm out of the shop using a metal pole. They said they spent more than 30 minutes trying to drive it away as it stubbornly continued to tuck into more food.

Danai Sukhanchat, one of the local wildlife volunteers, said Plai Biang Lek was reported to be sleeping some 500 metres (around 1,600 feet) behind the restaurant earlier in the afternoon.

He said: 'When it woke up, it went to eat at the restaurant nearby. I pushed it out of the shop. I've encountered this wild elephant before so it probably remembered my voice and left, though it did take some time. I was careful not to come too close to it for my own safety.'

The relieved restaurant owner said she had been running her store for around 28 days. She said: 'In the weeks we've been open for business, an elephant has never entered the restaurant until today. I was very scared, but I'm thankful the volunteers arrived quickly.'

Elephants are known for their voracious appetite. The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) found need to eat up to 150kg of food per day - the equivalent of 375 tins of baked beans

Conservationists in Thailand say that wild elephants - up to 3,500 of them - have even developed a taste for human food and prefer to rummage through homes and vehicles for snacks, instead of the bland leaves they find in the forest.