A herd of wild elephants was captured on CCTV wandering into a temple in Thailand just before midnight - seemingly joining in with evening prayers.

Footage shows five jumbos, including two adults, strolling calmly through Wat Tham Sarika in Nakhon Nayok province at around 11:50 pm on June 19.

One of the curious beasts was caught climbing the steps to the ordination hall, where it lingered briefly. They then paused in front of the shrine, appearing to pay respects to Buddhist gods.

Authorities said the unexpected visitors damaged four stainless steel water tanks, each with a 2,000-litre capacity.

The temple abbot joked: 'Wild elephants from Khao Yai climbed into the temple to join us for the evening prayers.'

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.