A woman in Thailand was shocked when she tried to flush her toilet but instead found a live snake poking its head out from the bowl.

Chaleo Homhuan, 62, had gone downstairs to use the bathroom in her two-storey house in Samut Prakan province on January 23. About to do her business, she spotted something black seemingly submerged inside the toilet bowl. She then tried to flush the object down but was terrified to see a large python rearing its head upon being disturbed.

Chaleo quickly slammed the lid shut and fled the bathroom before calling the local snake wranglers to remove the animal from her home.

The officers arrived but found no sign of the snake, which had apparently slipped down the U-bend to hide. The team tried pouring toilet cleaner down the bowl but still could not lure the python out.

Finally, with Chaleo's permission, they decided to rip out the toilet bowl and smash it so they could find the reptile.

Footage shows the men breaking through the tiles in order to remove the bathroom fixture. They then took the toilet bowl outside the house and managed to drag the coiled serpent out from the pipe after 30 minutes by using a hook.

Chaleo said: 'The snake was huge. It was about the size of my arm. People should be careful when using their toilet. Don't sit right away, and check every time. Now I'm scared and I look before I sit down.'

The python was placed inside a sack before being released into the wild. Meanwhile, the officers advised locals who find wild animals invading their property to call authorities instead of acting on their own.

The reticulated python is found throughout South and Southeast Asia. They are common in Thailand, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and the sewage systems in cities, preying on cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.

The number of pythons coming into conflict with humans has increased in recent years, due to the rise in urban development as more homes and apartment blocks are built on green land that was the habitat of snakes.