A shocked Thai man found a deadly 5ft-long cobra emerging from his toilet as he was about to sit down.

Homeowner Wittawat, 45, noticed the venomous reptile hiding in the toilet's U-bend in his house in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on April 7. He had just turned the bathroom lights on when he spotted a dark shape peeking out from under the water.

The curious local took a flashlight to better see the creature. He shone it on the toilet and was terrified to see the cobra rearing its head. He then ran out of the room and called animal control officers to remove the snake from his home.

The volunteers arrived in the afternoon to catch the intruder, but the stubborn cobra kept crawling further into the toilet bowl. The team, with Wittawat's permission, later dismantled the bowl from the floor to reach it. They sprayed mosquito repellent onto its base and finally drove the snake out from its hiding spot.

A relieved Wittawat said: 'While turning on the bathroom light, I saw something moving in the toilet. I used the flashlight and saw that it was a snake so I hurriedly called for the rescue staff. Luckily, I hadn't sat on the toilet bowl yet.'

After measuring the cobra, which reached a length of 5ft-long, the officers placed it in a sack to release into the forest.