This snake can be found in Southeast Asia, in countries like Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has primarily nocturnal habits and very aggressive behavior. Its color is brown and black with white spots, and it feeds on rodents, birds, and small reptiles. When irritated, it has the ability to project its venom at a distance as a deterrent.

This species was long confused with the monocled cobra (Naja kaouthia) and the Chinese cobra (Naja atra), but detailed morphological and molecular analyses developed in the 1990s revealed that it was a distinct species.