A snake lover died in a hotel room after being bitten by his pet cobra while he teased it for social media videos.

Supratchaya Saengracha, 28, was found lifeless on the bed of his ground-floor hotel room in Khon Kaen, northeast Thailand, on July 2.

Police were called to the scene after hotel staff made the grim discovery at around 12:30 pm.

They found the guest motionless with his right arm outstretched across the white linen, stained with drops of blood. He was still wearing his shoes, while on his upper arm were puncture wounds believed to be from a snake bite.

Officers said there were no signs of ransacking. During a sweep of the room, they found a live cobra sealed in a white cloth bag near the door.

They then found the social media videos he had been making with the deadly predator shortly before he was bitten.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Chana of Chum Phae Police Station said: 'We inspected the victim's mobile phone. We found a video recording of him grabbing the cobra's neck and playfully teasing it.

'We believe the victim may have been bitten by his pet cobra, causing him to pass away.'

Footage from Supratchaya's phone showed him holding the venomous reptile's head barehanded as it coiled around his right hand.

He was believed to have sealed the cobra in the white bag before collapsing onto the bed when the potent venom took effect.

The hotel manager said: 'The deceased had checked into the room and was later found dead. We believe he brought a cobra with him to play with and posted about it on social media. It's possible he was bitten and died as a result.'

Authorities said they were treating Supratchaya's death as a criminal case.

His body was taken to the Chum Phae Hospital hospital for a post-mortem examination.

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.