This is the moment nine inmates broke out of prison in Thailand.

The detainees of the Nakhon Pathom prison launched the daring escape on December 11 evening while the other prisoners were sleeping.

They were seen tiptoeing past their slumbering cellmates before cutting through the metal bars using a sawblade, which they left in a restroom inside the detention facility.

The runaways then slipped out of the narrow hole one by one, and used their shirts to cover the barbed wire fence which they climbed to freedom. Photos captured via CCTV shows the inmates walking shirtless on the road two hours past midnight.

The nine men, aged 18 to 43 years old, had been arrested for assault, drug, and theft-related cases.

Two of the escaped prisoners were re-captured by officers after their parents reportedly turned them in to authorities. Ekkarat, 18, and Nattakorn, 24, said the plan had been hatched two weeks earlier by the older inmates.

They allegedly joined in, fearing a long sentence lasting five to six years because of their previous offences.

Police are currently tracking down the seven other prisoners on the loose.

Major General Chomchawin Purthananon said: ‘Officers are checking every CCTV camera in the area to trace the path that each man took.

‘We are also interviewing everyone at the prison as we believe somebody assisted their escape.’