this would be a riverting speach

Around the same time the OP's wife had a visit from police asking if she was interested in buying tickets we had a visit from our police neighbour upcountry asking if we were interested in buying a police Buddha emulet.

He explained each officer had been given one to sell to raise funds for the police hospital. They were being sold for 999 Baht. We asked a local emulet collector who said they were collectable and a reasonable price.

We went ahead and purchased one as it was going towards a good cause. I handed over a 1000 Baht note and told him to keep the change. He insisted on handing back 1 Baht which had something to do with the amount 999 Baht being lucky plus something about a donations and the person receiving having to hand over money in exchange.

The emulet came in a nice box with a serial number and police logo etc.

My wife says some of these things are scams and some are legitimate. Unfortunate because the scammers give the legit ones a bad name and cut down on their donations. How do you tell which are which? I guess there is someone you could call or you could ask to take a picture of the persons ID to verify, but that's probably more trouble than it is worth. Take your best guess seems to be the best option or either ignore them all or pay them all.... our house has a big front garden and I'm jai dee ("good heart" or better translation "easy mark" for scammers) and in the first couple of years here I used to walk out when they rang the bell and got caught up with them a lot. Now, when the bell rings and I'm not expecting anyone, I peek out the window and if it's Thai people that I don't recognize, I just go about my business and ignore them until they go away.