Python puts squeeze on Thai biker

A Thai man is unconscious after almost being squeezed to death by a four-metre python he was carrying on a motorbike.

Samrauy Phonlerk, a local villager, had volunteered to take the snake to a national park after it was found in Pracinburi town, east of the capital Bangkok.

A friend agreed to drive him there on his motorcycle, but as they were setting off the friend noticed that the snake appeared to have escaped from a bag and to be strangling Samruay.

The friend abandoned the motorcycle at a busy intersection and ran for help.

Emergency workers who came to the scene found the python tightly coiled around its victim.

More than a dozen people beat the snake with sticks for over 20 minutes before it relented.

"Samrauy lost a lot of blood because he was bitten and constricted, but he came out of the intensive care unit this morning, although he is still unconscious," a police spokesman said.

The python was later released into the jungle.