This is the terrifying moment a whopping great King Cobra attacked a mother as she cooked dinner.

The housewife, Tin, 50, was stirring durian in a gas-powered wok outside the family home when 12ft long black reptile slithered across the driveway.

CCTV shows the killer reptile - with enough venom in a single bite to kill a human within an hour - gliding menacingly towards the unaware woman.

In an entirely unprovoked attack, the deadly snake slid between Tin's legs before turning around and rearing up while flaring its black hood.

It then struck out towards her leg - just inches away from plunging its fangs into her skin - as Tin leaped up in fear while running away screaming in Surat Thani, Thailand, on September 7.

The astonishing attack appears to dispel theories that cobras - responsible for tens of thousands of deaths a year - only attack humans in defense.

Instead, the cobra seemed to have targeted the mother from a distance and launched a stealth attack with a chilling malice that suggested it was hoping to kill and eat her.

Relieved Tin, who suffers from heart disease, said: 'My heart almost jumped out of my body. It was the biggest snake I had seen and it was staring straight at me. I remember seeing its eyes when I jumped up at ran away.'

The crestfallen cobra was seen in the video turning back around and slithering away into the nearby undergrowth.

Researchers found that 7,000 people are treated for snake bites each year in Thailand. Suchai Suteparuk from the Division of Toxicology at Chulalongkorn University reported that 30 of those die, with cobras being the biggest killer.