Husband and wife recoil in fear as wild elephant approaches their car

This is the nerve-racking moment a driver and his wife in eastern Thailand cowered in fear under the dashboard after a wild elephant came stomping towards them.

Passakorn Getpesh, 30, and his partner Kanchanok, 27, were going camping when they noticed the female jumbo in the road in Prachin Buri, last Friday (March 1).

They stopped the vehicle hoping that the elephant, which appeared to be looking for food, would amble back into the forest.

But the beast sparked panic as it came stomping towards them. The woman passenger is heard saying in the video to abandon their vehicle and run.

Her husband reassures her to stay calm and with the elephant already near, the couple could only duck their heads and keep still - hoping the elephant would pass without noticing them.

Luckily, the wild elephant only clipped the headlight with its knee before it walked away from the car and disappeared in the forest.

Passakorn, who travels to the national park twice a month, said that this was the first time he had encountered a wild elephant.

He said: ‘’I saw the elephant wagging her tail and ears and I was told that were signs of a good mood. The sound of the car could make her panic and aggressive, so I stopped driving.

‘’I hoped that the elephant would see our car as if it was a huge stone or something, so she would walk away very quickly.’’

Kanchanok also said that they were very lucky to survive the situation. She said: ‘’She walked too close to the car. I thought that she was about to stomp our car or use her truck to throw us.''