Honest limo driver returns B900,000

PHUKET AIRPORT: In an act of outstanding honesty, 42-year-old airport limousine driver Nopporn Kreupanich on Wednesday returned the equivalent of more than 900,000 baht in cash to a German tourist who managed to forget it on the floor of K. Nopporn’s vehicle. K. Nopporn drove the forgetful passenger, Christian Biberger, from Phuket Airport to the Karon Villa Hotel on Wednesday afternoon. Upon arrival at the hotel, Mr Biberger and his companion were in a hurry to check in and, in the rush, left a belt bag containing 20,000 Euros (about 917,000 baht) on the floor in the back. K. Nopporn drove off and continued his work ferrying tourists to their hotels from the airport. After driving several more fares to their destinations, K. Nopporn found the belt bag in the back, but he was unsure which passenger had left it behind. He called his boss at the Phuket Limousine and Business Services Cooperative to see if anyone had reported a missing bag, but there were no such reports. Finally, the office received a call from the Karon Villa Hotel, where the money was reunited with its owner yesterday. A relieved Mr Biberger asked K. Nopporn, as a reward, to take as much money from the bag as he wanted, but K. Nopporn only took 25 euros (1,150 baht). Mr Biberger insisted that this was not enough, and pressed him to take 500 euros (23,000 baht) instead. K. Noppon accepted. This was not the first time K. Nopporn has returned money to a passenger. He has done so on two previous occasions during his 10 years driving a taxi on the island. He told the Gazette, “I am so proud of myself. I could never have a happy life with money I had acquired dishonestly. I love my career so I do it faithfully.”