105,000 baht windfall goes downhill: Thai man’s road to trouble after purse find
Police arrested a Thai man who discovered 105,000 baht in a purse on the road behind a hospital in the central province of Nakhon Sawan and spent it on drugs, gambling, a new motorcycle and a new mobile phone.
A Thai woman, Wannapa Kaewtakun, told ThaiRath that she withdrew the 75,000 baht from an ATM at 8.20pm on September 15 and kept it in her purse along with another 30,000 baht. After withdrawing the money, she went to Sawan Pracharak Hospital to visit a sick friend.
Wannapa mentioned that she left her purse in the car because she was afraid of misplacing it but was unaware of how it went missing. The purse contained 105,000 baht in cash, 20 lottery tickets and some personal items.
After checking the hospital’s security camera, she found that the purse had fallen off the vehicle and had been picked up by a male hospital janitor.
Wannapa checked with the hospital and found that the janitor returned home immediately after finding the purse and that the man had not returned to work for a few days. Confident that the janitor was the thief, she filed a complaint at Mueang Nakhon Sawan Police Station.
Police officers arrested the janitor, Surit On-sook, on the roadside near the police station on Wednesday, September 20. Surit admitted to taking and keeping the money. He said he found a purse on the road behind the hospital while working. He was shocked to find money inside and rushed home to share it with his wife.
Surit said he spent the money on a new motorbike, a mobile phone, drugs and online gambling. He said he had no money left to return to Wannapa. Officers reported they would summon Surit’s wife for further questioning.
Surit was charged under Section 335 of the Criminal Code: stealing from a victim at night. The penalty is one to five years imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 to 100,000 baht.
A similar incident was reported two days ago when a Thai man accidentally dropped his 100,000 baht while riding a motorcycle in Chon Buri province. The CCTV camera showed that two Thai men picked up the bills on the road but did not search for the rightful owner.
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