A terrified housewife was shocked when a ferocious snake lunged at her while she was sitting on the toilet.

Tanikarn Sirichantapan, 40, fled from the restroom when she saw the 5ft long serpent slithering across the tiles towards her at her house in Udon Thani, Thailand, on May 8.

As she was deathly frightened of snakes, she called the emergency services for help. A wildlife officer later arrived, armed with a snake pole, to catch the reptile.

Footage shows how the specialist exercised extra caution, carefully peeking inside the bathroom to search for the snake. When he failed to find it, he used a large mirror to scout the restroom's shower area.

The snake was lying behind an orange plastic stool. It was identified as a non-venomous but notoriously aggressive radiated rat snake.

Despite its small size, the feisty creature put up a fight and struggled against the snake catcher's pole while baring its fangs. It was sealed inside a sack and later released away from the neighbourhood.

Tanikarn said: 'I have an extreme fear of snakes, whether they are venomous or not. I've encountered one in my house before, but it escaped through the gate. This one appeared while I was on the toilet. It was more aggressive and did not run away.'