A terrified shopkeeper jumped onto a chair in fright when a snake slithered under her legs.

CCTV footage shows the reptile darting toward her counter as Rungsiri, 23, played on her phone in Phetchaburi province, Thailand on April 22.

The assistant felt something brushed past her feet and leapt up with shock before noticing the serpent on the ground.

She could be heard screaming her lungs out while her confused pet dog watched her on the chair. She managed to clamber onto the stool to avoid being bitten.

Rungsiri said: 'This was the most scared I have been in my life. My body was in panic mode. I just tried to get as ar from the snake as I could.'

Rungsiri's brother Ta Pipat, who runs the family shop with her, said: ‘She was very scared but thankfully the snake was not venomous. If it was a cobra it could have killed her.

'My sister screamed to me for help and I caught the snake at the back of the shop. I let it go into the trees outside.'

The snake seen in the video is believed to be a rat snake. They are harmless to humans but feast of frogs, rodents and small reptiles.