A shocked beach-goer found a huge monitor lizard prowling through a public toilet in Thailand.

Slovak chef Jan Peniasko was walking up from Railay beach in Krabi province when he discovered the giant Godzilla-like reptile inside the men's room on November 19.

The tourist stood by the entrance, confused whether or not to use the toilet, as the 4ft-long reptile slowly crawled towards the men's urinals.

Jan said: 'There was a nice surprise waiting for the next person into the toilets. I don't know where it came from or what it would be doing inside the toilet.'

Jan reported the monitor lizard to nearby businesses staff who called the local animal rescue centre. No one was reported hurt in the incident and the monitor lizard, which had also dodged a five Baht fee for the toilets, was never found.

Asian water monitor lizards live in canals and ponds in large cities in Thailand where they feed on fish, snakes, frogs and scraps of food left by humans.

They are aggressive when threatened and have a mildly venomous bite which sometimes carries harmful bacteria.