A huge king cobra appeared outside a kitchen window while a housewife was cleaning her home.

Footage shows the 8ft-long serpent poking through the opened sliding glass in front of the sink in Krabi province, Thailand on September 27.

The rescuers arrived at the scene to catch it, but it was agile and they had to chase it around the home until they cornered it as it climbed up on the front gate.

It was eventually caught while it tried to escape into a nearby durian tree. No one was hurt and the animal was taken by the officers to be released later.

House owner Sirada Chansurang said: 'The snake entered our house. We were so scared and hid in the living room.'

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.