Cabbie Returns Tourist's Money

[george]

Cabbie returns tourist's money

BANGKOK: -- A Bangkok taxi driver yesterday turned over US and Taiwanese currency worth around Bt140,000 left behind by a Taiwanese tourist.

The relieved passenger, Chen Ching Ning, gave the honest cabbie Rian Wiangsamut, 45, a Bt4,000 reward.

On Thursday evening around 8pm, Rian called the Sor Wor Por 91 radio station's 1644 hotline and reported he'd found a wallet possibly belonging to a foreigner he picked up earlier from the Twin Tower Hotel and drove to the Pom Prab Sattru Phai area.

Rian had gone back to the hotel but could not find the passenger, so he decided to call the radio station for help.

"I have been driving a taxi for more than 10 years and decided to return the money because it's not mine and the owner would be in trouble over the loss," he said.

Businessman Chen Ching Ning, who was in Thailand for the first time, said he was happy and relieved to get the money back and praised Thai people for being honest and kind. Chen thanked Rian and gave him a Bt4,000 reward.

-- The Nation 2007-01-20

[farangsay]

Yes it can happen , it happened to me a few years

ago in Patong.

Late one night I left a bar in Patong , did some late

shopping and took a tuk-tuk home.

I managed to leave a shoulder bag in the tuk-tuk

containing not just cash but the usual catastrophic

losses - passport, drivers licence , credit cards etc.

Finally resolved next evening when I inquired with

the evening shift tuk-tuk crew. My driver from the

night before spotted the bag when he went home

to Phuket town but wasn't sure where I lived so he

took it to the police station in Patong.

He took me there to reclaim it and they actually tried

to put him in the frame for the 10kb which was missing

(I had filed a police report in the morning).

However the couple hundred Euros which were intact

(as well as all the other important stuff) enabled me

to give him a 5kb reward.

All you tuk-tuk driver knockers please take note.

[isaanbrit]

I agree - I have also experienced unrivalled honesty from Taxi and tuk tuk drivers. There are the bad ones (end of khao sarn road for example) but there are some fantastic ones.

Sparks the question - how many thaivisa.com users would be tempted, just slightly to keep the 140,000 baht.

[pampal]

It's good to see a happy ending every once in a while

[thaigene2]

Now if TAT had any brains they would make a big deal out of this. Public recognition - news conference - give the guy some high profile award. Just the kind of good news Thailand needs to recover its battered int'l image.

[adaminsamui]

Very true, you do get bad and good taxis drivers. My very first trip to Thailand 2 years ago i got a taxi from bangkok to pattaya. When i arrived in pattaya i relized i left my phone in the taxi. Managed to get hold of a phone and ring my phone. The taxi driver was half way back to bangkok when he finally answerwed. But he did turn around and drive all the way back with the phone!! ( i have lost my phone many times in Taxi in england and never once had in returned, just end up everytime with 400 pounds worth of international calls the taxi man made!)