BANGKOK, Thailand – A tuk-tuk driver’s honesty has earned praise from Japanese tourists after he returned a lost wallet just hours before the couple’s flight home, reinforcing Thailand’s reputation for warm hospitality and visitor safety, July 14. Thanawat Saenkwang, a tuk-tuk driver and street vendor near Tha Chang, found the wallet on a sidewalk and immediately reported it through a Line OA network created under a tourism protection programme around the Grand Palace. The information was quickly passed to officers from the Bangkok Tourist Police. Inside the wallet were important identification documents, several credit cards and approximately 15,000 yen in cash.
Tourist Police rapidly contacted the owners and arranged the return of the wallet at the Na Phra Lan underpass near the Grand Palace. All belongings were returned intact. The Japanese couple, visiting Thailand for the first time and due to fly home later that evening, said they had given up hope of recovering the wallet after realizing it was missing. They expressed heartfelt gratitude to the honest tuk-tuk driver and the Tourist Police for their swift assistance, saying the experience made them feel genuinely safe in Thailand and promising they would definitely return for another visit.
