While catching the snake, the firefighters were told that a nest of 30 snake eggs had already been removed from under the house where the female was caught.
The whereabouts of those 30 king cobra eggs is now unknown.
The Patong Municipality Fire Department was called to the house, in Soi Prabaramee 7, at 10:10am, one of the firefighters, who asked not to be named, told The Phuket News.
The call made by Patong Councilor Manas Islam on behalf of a local resident, he said.
“The owner of the house told us that while he was building his own fence yesterday (Apr 17), he found a snake nest with 30 eggs under the concrete floor behind his house,” the firefighter explained.
“He said that he immediately took all of the snake eggs out from the nest, but he did not explain what he did with them,” he added.
The house owner also saw the female snake and quickly called his local councilor, asking him to call the correct officers to come and catch the snake, the fireman added.
“It took us about 15 minutes to catch the snake. We needed to use a hammer and a drill to break open the concrete floor so we could catch it,” he explained.
The female king cobra will be released back into the wild, but away from houses, the fireman said.
“I think there is a male king cobra still around, as we still have not been able to find it. King cobras usually stay in pairs when mating and rearing eggs ready for hatching.
“I told the house owner to call us immediately if he sees another snake near his house,” he added.
The fireman also urged anyone who sees a snake near their house in Patong to call the Patong Fire Department on 076-342688.
Meanwhile, Piyawat Sukon, Chief of the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Conservation Centre in Thalang, told The Phuket News that he will not investigate where the king cobra eggs disappeared to.
“I understand if local residents find snake eggs around their homes, that they will be afraid and are likely to have destroyed them.
But I will not go to check about the eggs because there is a lot of people in that community and I do not want to have problems with the local residents. I don’t want to use the law against local residents because I know everyone is afraid of finding snake or king cobras around their homes,” he said.
Regardless, Mr Piyawat confirmed that the king cobra is a protected wild animal in Thailand.
The species has been listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List since 2010.
“I strongly suggest that anyone who finds a snake or snake eggs to please inform specialists to catch it.
“And if you do not know where to release the snake, you can bring it to me at at the Khao Phra Thaew Non-Hunting Area Conservation Centre in Thalang. I will release it into the forest for you," Mr Piyawat said.