A huge elephant held up cars after lying down and napping in the middle of a forest road.

The giant was sprawled across the highway in Nakhon Ratchasima, northeastern Thailand, on the morning of August 13.

As a car approached, the driver had to stop and be silent to avoid scaring the huge creature - which could have charged at the vehicle it was startled from being woken up suddenly.

Footage shows how the elephant remained in its deep sleep for around three minutes while the car edged closed and came to a stop.

Motorist Nattawat Patsungsing, 57, who captured the video said the elephant was like that for about 20 minutes before he started filming.

Nattawat is heard in the clip asking the elephant to move, saying ''Oh boy...you're taking the entire road. Can you please move, little boy? I really have to go to work.''

He is also heard calling the elephant ''Sir'' as he still did not seem to move any part of his huge body.

Speaking after, the driver said he had been told by wildlife officials in the area that the troublesome elephant was named Nga-Thong - which means 'golden ivory' in Thai - and often lies down on concrete road for warmth.

He added: ''Nga-Thong doesn't like to reveal himself when the road is busy with cars and loud buses, so most of the time it's national park officers who see him. They said he's very shy.

''I was waiting about twenty minutes until he finally got up. I was late for my shift at work that day but I was happy to see him so close.''