This is the incredible moment a king cobra was caught mid-meal as it swallowed a monitor lizard in Thailand.

The deadly apex predator had unhinged its jaws to engulf the lizard when it was found by a terrified resident in his garden in Krabi province on September 13.

Gruesome footage shows the 13ft serpent bulging as it pushed its prey down its throat. The lizard was halfway down its esophagus when snake wrangler Panya Tulyasuk arrived at the scene and prepared to capture it.

The fearless reptile handler grabbed the cobra by the tail bare-handed and carefully held its neck down, forcing the snake to regurgitate the slimy lizard carcass.

As the snake appeared weak from swallowing the monitor lizard, it did not put up a fight and was docile while the rescuers hauled it away.

The volunteers said the cobra weighed 15 kilogrammes. It was released back into its natural habitat.

The homeowner told local reporters: 'I saw something shuffling in the grass next to my house, so I took a flashlight to look at it. I was scared to death when I saw the large king cobra eating the lizard. I was lucky it had found something else to prey on and did not attack me.'