Nai Harn lifeguard Nara Ratnarak told The Phuket News that he saw the snake swim out of the water and onto the beach at about 11am.
“I was just walking along the beach during my patrol when I saw it come out of the water,” Mr Nara said.
“I think it came from a small island, maybe looking for food,” he added.
Thinking it was not a good idea to have the snake, which measured over two metres long, loose on a beach popular with tourists, Mr Nara followed it up the beach and caught it with his hands.
“It took me about five minutes to catch the snake, but I do warn people to not try this if they have no experience,” Mr Nara said.
“Luckily, this was a rat snake, which is not poisonous,” he added.
“Some tourists saw it and were shocked, but there were not many tourists on the beach at that time,” Mr Nara said.
“If you do see a snake on or near the beach, please don’t try to catch it yourself. Just keep away from it and come and get a lifeguard. We’ll take care of it,” he said.