A wild elephant sparked panic when it wandered down to a village to search for food.

The jumbo emerged from a nearby forest and stomped over towards the barbecue restaurant in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, on Saturday evening.

Footage shows the tusker named Duan Wanalee, 47, shuffling around near the restaurant's outdoor seating area, drawn by the scent of food.

Curious customers watched from inside the shop as the hungry pachyderm continued trudging along the pavement before wildlife officers arrived to drive it back into its stomping grounds.

Volunteer Danai Sukantachart said: 'Duan Wanalee often makes visits, raiding restaurants for its favourite food like rice, vegetables, fruit, and sauces. Tourists in the area should drive slowly because wild elephants often appear and cross the road.'

The incident occurred just two days after another elephant named Plai Biang Lek stormed a grocery store for a midnight meal.

The jungle behemoth caused 30,000 baht in damages as he ransacked the small roadside shop near a wildlife sanctuary on July 10.

Plai Biang Lek is notorious for barging into properties in search of food.

On June 2, he wandered into a different shop, where he was caught eating rice cakes and chicken eggs while wedged on the low roof.

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.