Singapore Cabbie Returns $900,000 To Thai Couple

[webfact]

Singapore cabbie returns $900,000 to Thai couple

SINGAPORE, Nov 20, 2012 (AFP) - A Singaporean taxi driver has been heralded as a hero after he returned Sg$1.1 million ($900,000) in cash to a vacationing Thai couple who left the money in his cab.

Sia Ka Tian, 70, was shocked to find the money in a black paper bag on the back seat on Monday after he dropped the couple off at a shopping centre.

"When I saw the money, I thought, trouble is here. I was sure there was at least $200,000 in the bag," the Straits Times quoted the 31-year veteran in the taxi business as saying.

But when he brought the money to transport company ComfortDelGro's lost-and-found office, his stunned colleagues counted Sg$1.1 million in thousand-dollar bills.

"The money is unimportant to me. It doesn't belong to me, so how can I use it?" he told the newspaper.

The Thai couple reported the loss to the transport company and Sia was waiting for them when they arrived to claim the money.

The report did not say what the couple were doing with that large sum.

The driver received an undisclosed cash reward from the grateful couple, whose names have been withheld, and the company also plans to give him an award for good service.

"Finding one million dollars in cash is not an everyday affair and in fact, we wonder how many people would have possibly been tempted" to pocket it, company spokeswoman Tammy Tan told AFP.

"We are immensely proud of him and are glad that the passengers recovered their money.'

It was the second most valuable item returned by a cabbie working for the company. In 2009, another taxi driver returned fives kilos (11 pounds) of gold bars worth Sg$377,000.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-11-20

[thaikahuna]

Pocket it? My pockets are not that big but I would have been on the next flight to somewhere.

[laurentbkk]

I wonder what a thai couple were doing with 900,000$ in cash in Singapore ...sounds very fishy ..... its like the money found in some hong kong bank accounts from Thailand after the floods last year , or the cash found in the ministry of transport .... so much cash to carry , specially when it has to remain discreet.

[nev]

Got to respect the mans honesty. would take a strong willed person to hand it in.

I would have been in two minds, but would have done the same as the cabbie and hand it in, i remember losing my first pay packet on the way home and the postman picked it up and handed it back to me, the joy i felt when i got it back and his honesty moved me and i gave him half my pay, which was not much but he would not take it, i hope the owners gave him a nice reward!!.

[Payboy]

the grateful couple, whose names have been withheld

Just as well or the Thai revenue dept. may want to have a word with them.

[BeforeTigers]

My cynicism will not allow me to believe there is a legitimate reason for anyone, anywhere, to have that much cash on them.

Hope I'm wrong and they just had good Karma working for them.

[wired]

If it happened in Thailand with a Singapore couple and a thai taxi driver?!?

[gl555]

It's pretty easy to catch the driver if he had pocketed the money. While I truly believe he's an honest man, a part of me also thinks he didn't dare take a dime because he knew he'd probably be caught and in Singapore, he would have been charged with something and jailed.

[BourbonSt]

Were the Thai couple politicians or runners for one?

[davejones]

Pocket it? My pockets are not that big but I would have been on the next flight to somewhere.

Luckily not everyone is as dishonest as you.

[kurnell]

$900,000 is nothing for the criminal element. Who was the chappy that had garbage bags full of cash in his living room?

[lizardtongue]

Nice to hear I hope that he was WELL rewarded for his honesty!

[SeaVisionBurma]

My cynicism will not allow me to believe there is a legitimate reason for anyone, anywhere, to have that much cash on them.

Have you booked a hotel in Singapore lately? Outrageous prices - you almost need to be a millionaire to stay anywhere in Singapore.

[lujanit]

While I am not doubting the truth of the story the money must have been in SIN1000 notes as there are fewer than 170,000 USD1000 notes in circulation and surely that number of USD1000 notes would have raised some eyebrows. The real Q is did they bring that into Singapore which they would have needed to declare or did they 'obtain' it in Singapore. Maybe on their way to one of the casinos?

[sprq]

I'd have figured out some way to keep a chunk of it, on the principle that anybody carrying that amount of cash around could afford to lose some of it, and should be taught a lesson for being so stupid not just to carry it, but to forget it too.

[cgphuket]

It's pretty easy to catch the driver if he had pocketed the money. While I truly believe he's an honest man, a part of me also thinks he didn't dare take a dime because he knew he'd probably be caught and in Singapore, he would have been charged with something and jailed.

Do you really think he would have reported it to the police?

[Tanaka]

the grateful couple, whose names have been withheld

Just as well or the Thai revenue dept. may want to have a word with them.

Not if their name was Shinawatra.

[Billmont]

Many years ago, as a young man, I left my wallet in a dimly lit 5 star hotel on Orchard Road, Singapore. The Bar was, I suspose, meant to be romantic with each table have a candle. I paid my bill and finished my drink leaving my wallet on the table and walked out (with my Eurasian girlfriend) got a taxi and was just being driven off when a waiter from the hotel came running up. The taxi driver leaned across an open the passenger and the waiter tossed in my wallet and ran off. I got the taxi to stop and I went in the find the young man and give him a reward which he refused. I insisted and push the money into his waistcoat pocket. I think he was embarrased to get paid for what he considered to be his duty. As far as I was concerned it was my mistake and I should pay for that mistake. Losing a wallet is not only about he money but all the other items of personal value that were kept in a wallet in those days without mobiles etc. Anyway of the countries I worked in/visited Singapore was definately the most honest and of course the most strict. Males with long hair in government queues always had to go to the back until there was no one with short hair waiting. They may have to wait hours or even all day. Perhaps their strict punishments for crimes helped to instil honesty, the Rotan for example. It is good to note that this honest is still in operation in modern Singapore.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Billmont

[Tolley]

Singapore is the laundering capital of the east. With 1k notes it makes it very easy to take out lots of cash without looking like you are taking that much. Singapore even has 10k notes. When i finished my contract in Singapore i took out 15k from my Singapore bank account in 1k bills. It didnt even make an impact on the width of my wallet.

The thais in this story were definitely washing dirty money.