Python snake
A three-metre snake came up through the toilet plumbing and attacked Attaporn Boonmakchuay as he sat on his toilet Getty

A man in Thailand has had a terrifying experience while attending nature's call after a three-metre (10ft) long python bit him on his penis. The victim is said to be recovering in hospital.

Attaporn Boonmakchuay from east Bangkok said the snake slithered through plumbing pipes and sunk its fangs on his genitals. He shrieked out to his wife and neighbours for help, struggling for half an hour before breaking free as the python "yanked very hard," according to the BBC news website.

"It took about a minute for the neighbour to get here. And all of a sudden, while I was holding it, it began to lose some strength so I used my hand to prise open its mouth. Then the snake released its grip by itself," the abc news quoted him as saying.

He managed to remove the snake and tied a rope around its head and left it attached to his bathroom door. The 38-year-old later collapsed after loosing a lot of blood. Doctors said he suffered only a 3cm wound and is expected to make a quick recovery.

Dr Chutima Pinchareon said: "I think he's lucky. We have to watch for infection. If there's none and if the wound is healing well he should be able to go home. But if the bite had gone in the urinary tract it would have been a big problem," RT news reported. The python has been released back into the wild.

In a similar incident, a 21-year-old Australian man suffered injuries when a red back spider bit him on his penis as he sat on a toilet.