Thread: Amputee Taxi driver returns $6,500

Originally Posted by Chairman Mao

National Police Chief Pol Gen Wichean Potephosree praised the cabbie for his action and said the police would present him with a shield of honour on October 13, National Police Day.

While they all piss themselves laughing at him and think 'wot a fukwit'.

is it really true? or just a publicity stunt. ? one hand !!!!
ahhhh how sweet.

Originally Posted by Chairman Mao

A kind-hearted amputee taxi driver has returned a purse left in his car with US$6,500 and Bt26,000 in it to a Burmese passenger, Police Radio FM 91 station executive Jaiton Sriwangpol said yesterday.

Thumbs up ! Some really lovely people here. No I'm wrong, most of them are really honest and lovely.

Reading the threads on thai expat forums i feel myself lucky to live here as the only foreigner foreigner in the moobaan.

An honest taxi driver in Bangkok is always worthy of a news story.

Pulled himself up by his bootstraps Taxexile - one fecking boot at a time and one lace at a time. Thought you would have been cheering the guy on - I am.

i saw him on the news last night receiving his medals, and his 2000b reward from the passenger, i do cheer him on, such honesty is heartwarming to hear about, but its not unusual. if you listen to bangkok radio js100, the traffic station, there are calls all the time from passengers who have left bags, phones, laptops, cameras etc. in cabs, the station broadcasts the details and the cab details and i am surprised how many cabbies phone back in and arrange to return forgotten property.

i dont know why this guy was singled out for a reward though.

regarding his one arm, good for him to choose work rather than begging, but driving is an odd choice for a one armed man to make, and i dont know how safe i would feel hurtling down an expressway in a monsoon downpour if i saw the steering wheel being manipulated by a stump instead of a 5 fingered hand, especially if his other hand was busy working the gears.

Originally Posted by taxexile

i dont know why this guy was singled out for a reward though.

regarding his one arm, good for him to choose work rather than begging, but driving is an odd choice for a one armed man to make

Lots of people with only one hand drive cars. As for the reward, he could easiy be one of the lazy working class you love to diss so much - in other words someone who takes the money cause 'he's had more than his share of bad luck'.

But he didn't. He gave it back - because he wanted to set a good example for his son. This guy's a hero. A few Thai doctors a bit too quick to offer RX not needed and 'dentists' too quick to suggest unrequired root-canals could learn from our one-armed taxi driver.. he's head and shoulders above them.

The main subject of this thread is not about an amputee guy driving a taxi. It's about there is some jewels of thai people who only deserve respect from us expats.

And I'm not a thaiophile, just my everyday experience.

Originally Posted by taxexile

its not unusual. if you listen to bangkok radio js100, the traffic station, there are calls all the time from passengers who have left bags, phones, laptops, cameras etc. in cabs, the station broadcasts the details and the cab details and i am surprised how many cabbies phone back in and arrange to return forgotten property.

Not unusual at all. And often for far larger amounts, in the range of 1/2 million baht.

They truly are such honest, beautiful people.

3 cheers for Thailand!

But he didn't. He gave it back - because he wanted to set a good example for his son. This guy's a hero. A few Thai doctors a bit too quick to offer RX not needed and 'dentists' too quick to suggest unrequired root-canals could learn from our one-armed taxi driver.. he's head and shoulders above them.

agreed, in full, but youre making such a big thing of it.

as i said, this happens every day, many times, so why is he a hero, he didnt save anyone from a burning building, he hasnt discovered a cure for cancer, he just gave something back that he found, he did the right thing, doesnt make him a hero, just makes him a decent person bringing up his child the right way. like many others.

millions of them about, rich ones and poor ones, even in thailand.

you seem to categorize people according to their wealth, if they are poor they are good and if they are rich then they are automatically bad.

why is that? and whats your beef with doctors and dentists, rip off artists exist wherever there is money to be made, we all know that, whats that got to do with anything?

Simple acts of honesty such as this are actually quite common here.

The Bkk tuk tuk driver that tracked down my father to return his camera he had left in the back seat, the local shop lady who sent some cash to me via a cousin because I had 'paid her too much', the local who found our motorbike keys in the track and handed them in to the local shop, back with us within a couple of hours. Many more.

Of course there are bad people everywhere, in all echelons, but one of the main problems I have with Thailand is that the worst of the moral rottenness and corruption emananates from the higher echelons of society. The rank greed, corruption, selfishness and bigotry there frankly appalls me.

But at tamedah, or moo bahn level the people are mostly very nice, and have integrity.

Originally Posted by sabang

The Bkk tuk tuk driver that tracked down my father to return his camera he had left in the back seat, the local shop lady who sent some cash to me via a cousin because I had 'paid her too much', the local who found our motorbike keys in the track and handed them in to the local shop, back with us within a couple of hours. Many more.

Beautiful.

happened to a friend of mine., left $5000 USD and passports and god knows what else in a Taxi.

Returned promtly via radio station.