Police paratroopers, from the Naresuan camp in Phetchaburi province, have been deployed to support police in the Banthad mountain range in Tamot district of the southern province of Phatthalung, who are searching for a prisoner who escaped from a hospital five days ago.

An officer in the police aviation unit told Thai PBS that the paratroopers had to rappel from a helicopter, because the terrain is dotted with many large trees, making it impossible to land or create a clearing to land.

Four helicopters have been taking supplies to the men on the mountains and to conduct air surveillance for the fugitive, Chaovalit Thongduang, who escaped from a hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat province on October 22^nd, allegedly with the help of some officials.

About 60 officials from the Corrections Department in Surat Thani have also been sent to help in the search.

Villagers in Tamot district have resumed rubber tapping today, after stopping for about a week for safety reasons. One said that they now feel more secure, due to the presence of the officials, and they need to make a living.

Police have found a temporary shelter, used by the fugitive and his men, on the mountain range and seized an M16 assault rifle and shotgun. There were, however, no traces of the fugitive, who is believed to be hiding in the mountains, which straddle several southern provinces.