This is the nightmare moment a snake slithered into a husband's pyjamas while sleeping.

Sompop Manmai, 31, was dozing on a floor mattress when he felt something cold squirming in his back in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on October 4.

Chilling CCTV footage shows Sompop suddenly awoken by the black figure when it tried slipping into his shorts. He shoved it away with his hand, and it glided through his loose shirt, as he shouted out in fear.

The full-time teacher did not know then that it was a serpent, so he alerted his friend while his wife was awake, and she felt the intruding animal too.

They sprang up to their feet to switch on the lights and saw the 3ft reptile a step away behind Sompop.

Sompop said: ‘We were all so scared. It could have bitten us if we did not wake up in time.'

CCTV shows how Sompop was on the mattress while his wife was in a separate bed on his left and a friend was on his right staying over for the night on a separate mattress.

The snake, later identified as a nonvenomous sunbeam snake, slithered across the room and found its way to the front door, where Sompop thinks it entered their home.

Sompop and his friends chased it away from the house until they reached a forest where it disappeared.

The teacher added: ‘We did not call the emergency rescue team because the snake did not attack anyone. It was also non-venomous. We chased it back to the forest.'

No one was hurt and the serpent was also unharmed.

The sunbeam snake is a non-venomous species in Southeast Asia, including Thailand. It is known for its stunning iridescent scales, which reflect light in a way that produces a rainbow-coloured sheen.

In lower-income households in Thailand, it is common for people to sleep on floor mattresses or simple mats rather than on raised beds with frames. Sleeping on the floor can provide a cooler and more comfortable option in the hot and humid tropical climate. They are also a more practical choice for families with limited financial resources.