BANGKOK, Dec 31, 2007 (AFP) - A herd of wild elephants killed one man and injured another in southern Thailand, local press reported Monday.

The Bangkok Post said that two men from Myanmar's Karen ethnic group were riding a motorcycle near the southern beach resort of Hua Hin on Sunday when they came across the elephants blocking the road.

They tried to go around the herd, the English-language daily said, but an elephant charged the motorcycle and they crashed into a ditch. The pachyderms then trampled the two men.

The 19-year-old driver of the motorcycle escaped with injuries and hid in a bush until local villagers rescued him, the paper said, while the man named only as Bird died of head injuries and broken bones.

Thailand's total elephant population is nearly 5,000, with up to 2,000 of them living in the wild, conservation groups say.