A Buddhist monk was seen pushing a chubby monitor lizard off a busy road using his walking cane.

Footage shows the orange-robed man poking the reptile on its tail while gesturing for it to move towards the side of the road in Nonthaburi province, Thailand on April 30.

The stubborn lizard, however, apparently refused to move and shook off its tail like it was telling the monk ‘to leave him alone.’

Amused resident Nuha Dogdag said: ‘The monk was trying to make the lizard leave because it might be hit by a car, but it didn’t want to. It eventually left on its own after a few moments.’

Monitor lizards are a common sight across Thailand including in the capital city Bangkok where they lived on canals and rivers. These reptiles are a protected species in the country so their population thrived. They were usually shy among humans but have fangs that could pierce through the skin and cause injuries.