This is the heart-stopping moment a brave traffic officer plucked a python off a busy road in Phuket.

Police Sergeant Major Netpirun Suksri dashed to an intersection half a mile from his station, where locals had spotted the snake slithering from a drain during the rush hour on August 22.

Footage shows the policeman using a snake pole to collect the six-foot reptile.

The officer spent five minutes under the pouring rain, dragging the snake from a drain, before securing it in a plastic bag and handing it to the livestock office for release.

Residents praised him for going beyond his normal traffic duties.

The reticulated python is found throughout Southeast Asia, where they live in forests, swamps, canals and even in cities, causing them to come into conflict with humans. The species is one of the world's largest snakes and can eat humans, cats, dogs, birds, rats and other snakes.