A snake sparked panic when it slithered into a restaurant in Thailand.

Nitchapa Banjarot and her colleagues were preparing meals when the cobra slowly crawled across the kitchen area at Pa Larb Yaso restaurant in Ayutthaya, Thailand.

CCTV footage shows Nitchapa, wearing a green shirt and hairnet, looking to her side and noticing the serpent on December 2.

She can be seen screaming in fear as she runs away from the reptile.

Meanwhile, other workers stood still, visibly confused, staring at the floor in search of the snake.

Nitchapa said: 'We were not able to catch the cobra. I do hope that it has already slithered out of the restaurant.'

No one was reported to have been harmed in the encounter.

A cobra's venom is powerful enough to kill 20 people or even an elephant with a single bite. It attacks the respiratory centres in the brain, leading to respiratory arrest and cardiac failure.