PATTAYA, Thailand —  A Thai snake charmer kissed 19 highly poisonous king cobras in an attempt to set a world record.

One by one, the cobras were released Saturday onto a stage set up in this Thai beach resort town, as the snake charmer, Khum Chaibuddee, kissed each one and then moved onto the next.

Security was tight, with four additional snake charmers flanking the stage at each corner and a medical team waiting on the sidelines with serum in case one of the snakes snapped, according to a statement from Thailand's Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Pattaya, which organized the event.

The museum's manager, Somporn Naksuetrong, said Ripley's planned to submit the attempt to the Guinness Book of World Records to overtake a previous record set in 1999 when an American kissed 11 venomous snakes.

Khum, a part-time snake charmer for more than 12 years, urged children and onlookers not to try the feat.

"I, myself, have been bitten several times by snakes," he said in a statement. "Always bear in mind the old story about the snake charmer who died (from being) bitten by snakes."