BANGKOK: -- A taxi driver returned gold necklaces and a wad of Bt1,000 notes to a 62-year-old woman at the FM91 police traffic radio station yesterday morning.

 

Cabbie Suchart Thiansomprasong, 42, handed a bag with Bt16,500 in cash and two gold necklaces to Thanom Ditcharoen, who left the items in his taxi on Sunday evening.

 

Thanom said that after a family trip in a blue taxi from Bangkok to their hometown, Saraburi, she realised the bag was lost but had no information on the taxi. She reported the loss to police the next day but later learned that the cabbie had already contacted FM91. "It's great to find out there are still good-hearted people around," said Thanom. "Society would be a happy and harmonious place if everyone behaved like this." Thanom handed Suchart a reward of Bt5,000.

 

Suchart said he found the bag as he was putting his shopping into the trunk on Tuesday afternoon, so he called the 1644 traffic hotline. "I wanted to return the valuables to their rightful owner," said Suchart. "I understand that anyone would want to get his or her lost items back." He urged passengers to snap their taxi license numbers with a phone so they could contact the driver if anything got left behind.

 

-- The Nation 2009-02-11

Last week I returned home by taxi from Bumrungrad Hospital with several medicines in one of their little brown carry bags. Having left the taxi and got up to my apartment, I realised I had left the medicine in the cab. Concerned about the hassle of persuading the hospital that I had lost the drugs and getting it to reissue another supply, I raced down in the hope that the cab might still be there, but it had disappeared. Thankfully, the security guard had noted the number and so I asked the reception lady to notify the police and offered a reward to the driver.

 

As she was trying to get through by phone, I wandered outside wondering why I had been so stupid. Since I'd been chatting to the taxi-driver (no, he was not cute!), I thought maybe he'd remember me when the next passenger found the medicines. Then from the end of the road, I saw a car flasing its lights. As it approached, I realised it was the cab driver bringing back the medicine. He had a lovely smile on his face as he handed it over. I thanked him profusely and tipped him for his trouble. He went away smiling.

 

One of the really nice things about living in Thailand!