This is the terrifying moment a king cobra was caught hiding under a mattress - which a man had been sleeping on all night.

Tawee Janmaha, 37, woke up and went to the shower before returning to his room where he noticed the glistening skin between the bed and the wall.

He pulled up the mattress and leapt back in fright when he saw the deadly snake's six foot long body.

Tawee called the emergency services who sent snake catchers to snare the reptile at the home in the Si Racha district of Chonburi, Thailand, on February 28.

Speaking after, a visibly shake Tawee said: ''I'd been sleeping on that. I feel sick.''

Tawee said that after waking up he went to the bathroom and spent five minutes in the shower before retuning to the room.

He added: ''I don't think it came into the room while I was outside. It could have been under the mattress all night while I was sleeping.

''If the cobra had bitten me I would have been dead.''

Rescue workers spent 20 minutes grappling with the aggressive cobra, which is capable of killing its victims with one bite releasing its powerful venom.

It was bagged up and driven away to be released back into the wild several miles away.