Residents of a mountain hamlet have been requested to leave temporarily so that police can hunt down the escaped prisoner Chaowalit Thongduang. Chaowalit Thongduang managed to flee after a shootout with police on Wednesday in the Palian district of Trang. Residents of the mountain village have been asked to leave temporarily so that police can hunt down the escaped prisoner Chaowalit Thongduang.
The search for Chaowalit, also known as Sia Paeng Nanod, is ramping up in the Banthad mountain range. Authorities in the adjourning districts of Manang and Thungwa, both of which are located in the neighboring Satun province, have set up checkpoints to screen individuals around the clock.
It is speculated that the captive and his armed bodyguards made their escape toward the eastern side of the mountain range. Members of the police force and the forest patrol have assisted with the search operation.
Those from the Crime Suppression Division and officers of the forest patrol are monitoring the areas in the Banthad nature sanctuary located in the province of Satun, while scores of officers from Provincial Police Region 9 and local police in Trang are monitoring the hilly areas using motorbikes.
Suthon (surname withheld), a resident of Bantra village, stated that authorities had requested that inhabitants abandon the areas for two days, and his family had complied with this request for the sake of their own safety. He claimed that he would not have the courage to go to work at a rubber plantation until the fugitive was apprehended.
Chokechai Limma, the assistant village head, stated that locals have been instructed to stay away from the forest and to give the police room to carry out their duties.
A resident of Satun’s Manang district named Pairote Damplab stated that the order is having an effect on a group of indigenous Mani people who make their living by collecting objects from the forest. He expressed his optimism that the escaped convict will be apprehended in a timely manner.
In the meantime, officers from the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) conducted a search warrant on a home in the Muang district of Phatthalung on Saturday in order to look for evidence. They did this after learning that the owner of the home may have assisted Chaowalit in his escape.
Two mobile phones were found during the search, and the owner of the residence, who has only been identified as Kasichart and is also Chaowalit’s cousin, was transported to the Muang Phatthalung station for questioning after the search was conducted.
According to the police, he would be subject to legal consequences in the event that it could be proven that he had helped Chaowalit get away from the authorities.
Chaowalit, who was 37 at the time, was incarcerated for attempted murder. On October 22, he ran away from the Maharat Nakhon Si Thammarat Hospital after having been sent there for dental treatment. He had been admitted there after falling and claimed he had terrible leg problems, but he had gone before receiving treatment there.
Even though he was chained to the bed and bound with other restraints, he managed to escape throughout the night.
Credit Bangkok post
