A 13ft long king cobra was caught after spitting venom at a shocked housewife.

The reptile started hissing at Buntham Krainara, 41, went she walked out into her front yard in Nakhon Si Thammarat, southern Thailand, yesterday (February 20) morning.

Buntham found the snake coiled under the fish tank. She was only a few feet away but managed to jump back before it attacked her.

The frightened resident immediately ran out of her home and called the neighbours and rescuers for help.

Snake handlers rushed to the scene to catch the ferocious cobra while other next-door locals were there to observe the incident.

They took more than fifteen minutes to capture the serpent, which was hiding itself under the tank. They then stuffed it into a sack with their bare hands.

Buntham said she was lucky that she saw it before being attacked by the poisonous serpent.

She said: "This is the biggest cobra I've ever seen. If I hadn't noticed the snake, I would have been killed by its venomous attack."

One of the rescue volunteers, Prangmas Chareonchai, said the king cobra weighed 20kg. It was released into the jungle far from buildings.

Locals gathered at house to see the snake while some used the house number and the snake's weight and length as their lottery numbers.