A young boy was shocked after finding a hostile king cobra hiding in the bathroom.

Jao Nai, 4, was about to take a bath at the family home but noticed the aggressive serpent resting next to the bathroom door in Saraburi province Thailand on June 4.

The lad's mum, Wannaree Surasaeng, 29, quickly grabbed the stunned youngster and slammed the door shut before calling snake rescuers for help.

She later led the volunteers to the space where the venomous reptile was confined. As light flooded into the room, they saw the king cobra with its hood spread spread out and poised to strike.

It made its displeasure known by hissing loudly and spitting its venom at the officers, who used the snake-catching pole to subdue the deadly animal.

The operation was over in 10 minutes, and the 5ft-long cobra - still angry at its captors - was sealed inside a large plastic box. It will later be released into the wild.

Wannaree said: 'I've seen the cobra several times but I couldn't catch it, so I'm relieved now that it was finally caught.

'If I had let my son enter the bathroom, he would probably have been bitten by the cobra. Fortunately, I saw it and grabbed him right away.'

Cobras are highly venomous and kill tens of thousands of people a year across Southeast Asia and the Indian sub-continent.