Amusing footage shows 'Keystone cops' chasing an alleged thief who escaped from a police station in Thailand.

Jirasak Ngangjui, 41, was arrested for suspected robbery but managed to slip away from inattentive officers at the Chaiya Police Station in Surat Thani province on September 1 afternoon.

He was said to have sneaked through an open door while police were not looking. He then sprinted toward a forest behind the station.

CCTV footage shows the bald suspect fleeing barefoot across a road as an out-of-shape policeman ran after him while radioing for help.

Police said they deployed personnel to monitor checkpoints in the area before combing through the woods near the police dormitory.

Police Captain Charin Sudkaew of the Chaiya Police Station said: ‘I saw the suspect hiding in the forest. I told him to halt and raise his hands, but he didn't listen so I fired a warning shot into the sky. He was scared and eventually surrendered.'

Jirasak was caught within three hours. He was returned to the Chaiya Police Station before being handed over to officers from Vibhavadi Police Station, where he was previously detained for drug-related charges.

He had an extra charge of 'fleeing a police station' added to his rap sheet.

The Keystone Cops were a group of bungling police characters featured in silent films produced by Mack Sennett's Keystone Film Company in the 1910s and 1920s.

They are best known for their chaotic, slapstick style and frantic, exaggerated physical comedy.