A Buddhist monk was shocked after a 10ft long king cobra slithered past his legs while he was playing on a computer.

Phra Wattana, 50, said he noticed the deadly reptile on the ground at his temple in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, on Wednesday night (July 1).

Animal handlers arrived and caught the snake as it hid behind the hard drive. The cobras was then recorded being stuffed into a plastic water bottle to be released into the wild.

The relieved abbot said that he was working on the computer when suddenly he spotted the serpent.

He said: "The snake blended into the shadows and when I spotted it, I almost had a heart attack.

"I believe that if I had't seen it, it could have bitten me, which would have been deadly.''