Kanchanaburi police race to rescue British teen’s lost luggage

Kanchanaburi Tourist Police swiftly responded to a report concerning a British teenager who yesterday left his shoulder bag on a taxi’s roof. The 19 year old man, identified as Southgate, had travelled from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi and forgotten his bag, containing his passport, a 50 baht banknote, and some foreign currency, on the taxi’s roof upon arrival at his guesthouse.

The guesthouse manager, Jiraporn, reported the incident to the authorities after a staff member attempted to retrieve the bag from the taxi driver, who denied having it. CCTV footage revealed the driver taking the bag from the roof, leading Jiraporn to contact the tourist police.

At 1.25pm, the police intercepted the taxi driver, identified as Prasert, while he was en route to Nakhon Pathom. The police found foreign banknotes in his possession, and 54 year old taxi driver admitted to discarding the bag and spending the 50 baht on cigarettes, said Jiraporn.

“He left his shoulder bag on the taxi’s roof. We saw the driver take it from the CCTV footage.”

The Tourist Police managed to return the shoulder bag to Southgate and took Prasert to Mueang Kanchanaburi police station for further legal proceedings, reported Pattaya News.

Meanwhile, another Thai taxi driver proved that not all of Thailand’s cabbies are crooks when he returned 80,000 baht in cash, along with personal belongings, to a Maldivian man who left them behind while travelling from Banthat Thong Road to Pradipat Road in Bangkok.

The Maldivian man, Ali Hafeez, left his backpack in an orange taxi while travelling from Banthat Thong Road to a spare parts store on Pradipat Road on June 4. Hafeez sought help from another taxi driver, Siroj Chaisirin, who had previously given Hafeez his contact information.

Siroj accompanied Hafeez to a police station to file a report and then to Phithak Santirat Radio Station to broadcast a message about the lost bag on a popular channel for taxi drivers.