Golden blunder: Granny’s 2 million baht treasure trashed by unwitting grandkid

A 60 year old woman lost over 2 million baht in gold after it was mistakenly thrown out with the rubbish by her unaware grandchild. The fortune was later discovered by a waste collector, who initially believed it to be counterfeit. The police were involved in the recovery of the gold, and it was returned to its rightful owner.

Wandee today reported her loss to the local police in Pluak Daeng, Rayong. She revealed that on January 1, she placed her valuable gold items in two bags, which were then mistakenly thrown away by her grandchild.

The gold items included six gold bars, six necklaces, five bracelets, five Buddha amulets, three diamond rings, a gemstone ring, a diamond brooch, eight gold rings, a pair of gold earrings, two pairs of diamond earrings, and a diamond bracelet. These were all placed in a red and black bag and left outside her room. A local waste collector, riding a motorcycle with a sidecar, later found the bags of gold while collecting rubbish.

Upon realising her mistake, Wandee was devastated and reported her misfortune to the Pluak Daeng Police Station. She was immensely relieved and grateful when she was informed that her gold had been recovered and would be returned to her, reported KhaoSod.

The investigation officer at Pluak Daeng Police Station, Niyom Chueaphak, explained that the crucial evidence was provided by the CCTV footage. At 5.52pm on January 1, the cameras captured Wandee’s grandson throwing the black bag containing the gold into a rubbish bin. Later, at 6.45pm the same day, the same cameras recorded the waste collector picking up the bag of gold.

The police were able to trace the waste collector to his home and recover Wandee’s gold within 24 hours. The gold, which weighed 40 baht (a Thai unit of measurement equivalent to 15.2 grams) and included two carats of diamonds, was returned to Wandee. She was able to confirm that all her items were intact.

Golden waste

The waste collector, a 46 year old woman, shared her side of the story. She revealed that she found the bag of gold among the rubbish around 7pm on January 1.

She took it home, where she and her husband jokingly assumed it was fake. They were extremely surprised when the police arrived at their home asking for the bag of gold. The police reassured the woman that she was not in trouble, as she had not stolen the gold. They then escorted her and the recovered gold to the Pluak Daeng Police Station, where it was returned to Wandee.