This is the moment a live snake is pulled out from its hiding place - inside a bus.

The python was spotted coiled inside the rear wheel arch by a motorist driving behind the passenger vehicle.

They sped up alongside the driver and yelled at him about the serpent - causing panic among the tourists piled into the back of pick-up truck style bus.

Driver Toon Chaiyo, 45, pulled over and called rescuers who tore open part of the bodywork to yank out the one-metre-long python in Pattaya, Thailand on March 13.

Toon said: ''When the driver shouted to say there was a snake in the bus all the passengers panicked. I parked straight away and let them get another taxi.''

The snake was checked for injuries and released back into the wild by staff from the Sawang Boriboon rescue foundation.