Inmate who escaped Khon Kaen hospital back in custody

An inmate convicted of drug charges who escaped from a Khon Kaen hospital on Friday has been recaptured. He had been taken to Phon Hospital for treatment and in the wee hours of Friday morning made a daring escape. He tried to flee and hide but he was found just 300 metres from the hospital.

The 41 year old man had been sentenced to jail for having 6,000 meth pills. A prison doctor thought he possibly had appendicitis and referred him to the hospital after the prisoner complained of stomach pain. At around 2am, the prisoner, clad in leg shackles escaped from the hospital building’s rear, reportedly injuring himself while jumping out of the first-floor window.

That injury may explain why he didn’t make it far, as prison officials reported that he appeared exhausted when he was tracked down just a few hundred metres down the road. He was found hiding inside an abandoned warehouse, ducked down in an old broken car around midnight this morning. He was handcuffed and taken back into custody without incident.

The man made his escape around 2am while he and another inmate were being guarded by three prison officers in the hospital. Rescue workers and prison staff search the forested area behind the hospital trying to find where he ran away. They had initially found no trace of the escaped man.

Officials had even taken to Facebook to offer a 30,000 baht reward for any information that led to the capture of the drug convict. They posted photos and circulated his name and information in hopes of someone spotting him and turning him in.

When police questioned him after being recaptured, the prisoner admitted that his reason for escaping was sweet and sad. Bangkok Post reported that he missed his family. He was scared that he may be spending many years behind bars for the drug charges. He worried that none of his family members would come to visit him if he were to remain in prison, so he made his escape attempt.