A baht bus driver who tried to return a bag left behind by drunk Japanese tourists was accused of, in fact, stealing their cash and valuables.
Pornthip Chuanjailok, 46, was joined by fellow taxi drivers at Pattaya Police Station Dec. 7 to explain his side of the story about the wallet and documents forgotten by the Japanese men in baht bus No. 402 around 2 a.m. that day.
Pornthip said he picked up participants in the Jomtien Beach jet ski competition near Walking Street and all five were extremely drunk. They agreed to a 300-baht fare to be taken to the D’Vareee Hotel where they paid on arrival and went to bed.
Around 4 a.m., however, Pornthip discovered the men left a bag in his truck containing a passport, ID cards and 21,020 baht cash. He went back to the hotel to return it, but the hotel staff could not rouse the passed out Japanese.
Pornthip didn’t want to leave the valuables with the hotel clerk, so he took it back and planned to return later in the morning after the hotel notified they were awake. The hotel never did.
Then, before he could return the items, Pornthip was notified that the tourists had filed theft charges against him.
The Japanese men claimed the wallet contained 70,000 baht and that a watch was missing from the bag.
The baht bus driver was flabbergasted and protested his innocence, laying out his story and pushing police to investigate his whereabouts and bank accounts. They found no proof he had any extra cash.
A long argument ensued, but, in the end, the Japanese who had the long drunken evening before dropped the charges, saying the money was not important and they thanked Pornthip for returning their passports and ID cards.
