This is the nightmare-like moment a wild snake slithered across a sleeping man on a sofa without waking him up.

Apichat Suriyo, 30, was napping at the start of his night shift when the reptile emerged on the furniture in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, on March 11.

Chilling CCTV footage shows the beast moving slowly across a finished McDonald's meal before probing the couch.

It then peered inside shirtless Apichat's trouser leg before creeping across his calf towards his thighs. After a couple of minutes, the 5ft long tree snake turned back and made its stealthy exit over the arm of the sofa.

Frighteningly, Apichat remained asleep the whole time. It was only when shopkeeper Chanakan Suttiprapa spotted the snake later that night and reviewed the surveillance footage did she see how close the animal had been to her worker.

Chanakan said: 'Apichat was on a night shift. He was asleep, and his task was to stay in the office for the night to guard the watches inside the shop.

'The snake just came out and slithered through his leg without him even realising. It is so scary watching it. The snake could have killed him if it was venomous.

'The lesson of the story is don't fall asleep when you should be working.'

The mildly venomous golden tree snake, which hunts lizards and rodents, crossed to the end of the sofa and slinked away. But Apichat and Chanakan both noticed the creature in the shop.

Apichat caught the snake and released it in the garden unharmed. They watched back the video from his night shift to see where it had been in the shop.

Chanakan added: 'The snake probably came from the trees outside the shop. I will put some grills on the doors and windows to stop it from coming back again.'

The golden tree snake is a bright green and yellow snake found in Southeast Asia. It can glide through the air by flattening its body and jumping from trees.

This species is mildly venomous and can cause swelling or irritation in some cases. However, they rarely attack humans unless provoked.