The king cobra was caught at a hotel in Kamala earlier in the day.
The Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation shared online a 17-second clip showing the tense situation with the cobra slipping free.
The video was posted with the caption reading, “A thrilling moment at night. We were about to change the snake tank and were chased after by a large group of people after catching it from a hotel in Kamala.”
Rescue workers from the Kusoldharm Phuket’s Kuan Yang rescue unit had captured the snake from the hotel and were transporting it to the Phuket Kusoldharm Foundation’s Kuan Yang station in Patong.
The plan was to hold the snake until officers from Khao Phra Thaeo Wildlife Sanctuary could retrieve it and release it back into the wild.
However, during the transfer, the snake managed to escape, prompting rescuers to scramble to recapture it.
After the video was posted online, netizens flooded the comments with reactions ranging from fear to amusement. Some wrote, “Very scary,” while others joked about lottery numbers, saying, “The number must come”.
The king cobra was eventually secured, and wildlife officials later took custody of the reptile to release it safely back into its natural habitat.