Oops! Auditor mislays B1.5 million

PHUKET TOWN: British vacationer Michael Michalke is a lucky man after recovering all of the 1.5 million baht he left in his Phuket hotel room at the weekend. Lucky and a little red-faced: back home, Mr Michalke is an auditor. The 50-year-old Brit and his 29-year-old Thai girlfriend, Rungtip Praujanteuk, checked into the Pearl Hotel on Montri Rd on Saturday evening. With him he had brought 2,070 baht, 325 pounds sterling and 1,170 Swiss Francs in cash, as well as 19,000 pounds and 10,000 Canadian dollars in travelers checks – altogether worth more than 1.5 million baht, much of which he intended to spend on a new pick-up truck for his girlfriend. Before they retired for the night, he asked K. Rungtip to slide all the money into one of the pillowcases on the bed. It wasn’t until the following evening, by which time the couple were in Surat Thani on their way to Koh Samui, that Mr Michalke realized he’d left the money in Phuket. Pearl Hotel general manager Somsak Kusuwan told the Gazette, “Mr Michalke called us on Sunday evening after he went to pay the bill at a restaurant in Surat Thani and realized that he had no money.” Happily, room maid Wilai Pumpuang had by that time come across the cash and handed it all in to the management, who were able to assure Mr Michalke that it was awaiting his return. “When Mr Michalke reclaimed the money in person on Monday, he gave K. Wilai a 5,000-baht reward,” K. Somsak said. This is not the first time K. Wilai, 48, had been rewarded for handing in valuables. She recently received an award of merit from the hotel for handing in a valuable necklace.