A man who heard a strange sound coming from the engine of his car in Thailand took a look under the hood and came face to face with a king cobra.

Thaichai Kongnimit, 55, said his Nissan was parked outside of his Surat Thani province home overnight Wednesday and he heard the noise Thursday when he was preparing to drive to the store, reports the UPI.

Thaichai said he popped open the hood and quickly slammed it shut again when he came face to face with a 15-foot king cobra.

‘The cobra could have killed me. I opened the bonnet to look down into the engine and I was about [12 inches] from its face,’ he said.

Thaichai called local authorities, who summed snake catcher Tanawat Num to the scene.

Tanawat said the capture went smoothly and the snake will be safely released back into the wild.

‘It is rare that we see a king cobra this big,’ he said.