Social media publicized the story of a man who unknowingly dropped cash on the streets of Chiang Mai near the Lanna Hospital on March 22, 2016. CCTV camera footage caught people stopping their vehicles to grab the cash as it floated down the street causing a major traffic jam.
Phuthipong Boonta, age 25 of Padaed sub-district, reported to police that he had withdrawn cash from the bank sent to him by his mother working in Japan to purchase a big motorcycle. He told police that he had put the money in a bag around his waist but failed to notice it was not zipped, causing around 58,000 baht in cash to fly out. He drove back to find people collecting cash on the road. He reported it to the police as well on social media asking to have the money returned.
Phutipong came to regret reporting cash he lost on the highway as he was arrested on a four year old warrant for selling illegal drugs when he came to claim his cash.
However, when he returned to the police station to pick up 9,000 baht that had been recovered he was arrested on outstanding drug charges from a 2012 warrant from the Courts.
Phutipong admitted to police upon arrest that he was the person named in the warrant. The police reported that the suspect had been involved in a sting to sell drugs but fled when the police came to arrest him at his room near Payap University and had been wanted on the outstanding warrant since then.
