This is the astonishing moment an elephant visited a car wash for a shower in Thailand.

Footage shows the jumbo enjoying a refreshing bath as its mahout rinsed it down with a hose at the coin-operated car wash in Chonburi province.

The gentle giant appeared to relish the cool water, its mouth open in delight as the handler blasted it with a hose. The pachyderm obediently turned as its handler covered it in soapy bubbles for a full-body scrub-down on March 20.

An onlooker said: 'I was both amused and bewildered, wondering why an elephant was entering the car wash. It looked adorable while bathing, so I decided to record the moment on my phone.'

Thailand has an estimated 4,000 elephants in captivity. They are put to work in the logging industry, at tourism resorts or kept privately for use at religious events and rituals.

A number of rescued elephants also live in sanctuaries, where they can wander through enclosed land.

However, there is ongoing debate about the treatment of all captive elephants, with organisations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) calling for their release.