SUKHOTHAI: A 55-year-old man was killed in front of his horrified sister while wrestling with a 3-metre python he kept captive underneath their pole house in Kong Krailat district on Monday evening.
Sawaeng Thapkhlai, 63, rushed downstairs to see what was going on she heard her younger brother Sawan Thapkhlai cry out for help and plead for someone to hand him a knife.
She was greeted by the shocking sight of her brother held fast in the coils a huge snake. Bravely, she took hold of the reptile's tail, hoping to pull it from him and save her brother.
But the snake proved far stronger than her best efforts and she yelled out for neighbours to come and help her.
Unfortunately, no one arrived in time to save her brother, who had already breathed his last by the time neighbours and relatives rushed in.
Together, they recaptured the snake and put it in a sack.
The snake had not wandered into the house and attacked the man at random. Rather, he had been keeping it there for about three days in a big earthen jar sitting underneath the house.
It was believed he tried to get the python out of the jar with one hand, while holding a knife in the other hand. It seems Sawan had been wrestling with snake, which on this occasion wrapped itself tightly about his body and neck, suffocating and defeating him.
The snake bore some cuts, believed to have been made by its victim, who also had some bites on his body.
It was not clear what the villagers later did with the snake.