A wild elephant gave campers a terrifying start to their day when it charged into the site to attack the tents.

Footage shows the jumbo named Ploy Ngong Thong shaking the first canopy it found at Lam Ta Khong camping ground in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Ploy Ngong Thong slipped its trunk inside the dome where visitors were sleeping, sending them into a panic when they awoke to find it just outside.

The bull moved along and chose another grey tent to search when everyone had already evacuated so it was empty on May 31.

Camper Ekathat said: ‘The elephant came from the mountain. It was a long weekend, so there were many people.

‘It looked hungry and searched the tents for food.'

Five shelters were damaged and had to be re-pitched when the leathery beast finally left.

Ploy Ngong Thong wandered through the area for half an hour before Khao Yai National Park rangers were able to push it back into the forest.

No one was hurt, and the tusker returned safely into its habitat.

Thailand has up to 3,500 elephants in the wild. The population has been increasing in recent years, but it is still a fraction of the estimated 300,000 wild elephants that lived in the country 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.