A deadly king cobra slithered into a home while a father was cooking, before it hid under their kitchen cabinet.

The 12ft (4m) serpent slipped past Chom Yodkaew, 65, as he was making dinner in Songkhla, Thailand. He said tried to chase it away but failed.

Footage shows the snake coiled tightly in the narrow space beneath the wooden furniture on August 6.

A volunteer from a local wildlife rescue centre used a hooked stick and a headlamp to locate and pull the cobra out.

When the rescuer secured the animal by its neck, residents were stunned by its size.

The handler carried the snake to a larger space in the house, and surprisingly, it did not appear to resist his grip.

Chom said: ‘I was igniting a charcoal stove to prepare to cook. I saw the snake and I froze in place.

‘I tried to scare it away but it would not leave before it went to hide. I could hear it hissing.'

The calm reptile expert measured the predator and placed it in a sack so they could safely carry it with them.

The team released it back into the wild later away from homes.