Foreigner caught stealing taxi cash
Aforeign man has avoided being charged with theft after he was
caught stealing B3,600 from an independent taxi driver operating via the inDriver app while the driver stepped out of the car to go to the toilet.
The taxi driver, Somphas Jindawong, 49, explained that the theft occurred after he picked up three passengers ‒ two men and one woman, all foreigners ‒ from a villa in Soi Pattana in the Saiyuan area in Rawai at about 3am on Jan 30.
The trio had booked Mr Somphas to take them to a condo, also in Rawai,
for a fare of B150.
“I took them to the condo, but only
two passengers got out of the car. The third passenger, a dark-skinned man, asked to be dropped off at another condo, near Central shopping mall. I agreed for a fare of B200,” said Mr Somphas , who is originally from Nakhon Sri Thammarat but who has been working as a taxi driver in Phuket
for 10 years.
However, Mr Somphas explained that he needed to urinate, and had stopped the car at a quiet location to relieve himself.
“I dropped the man off and then went home to bed,” he said.
About 9am the next day (Monday, Jan 31), Mr Somphas discovered that B3,600 cash that was in the centre console between the two front seats was missing.
Unknowingly for the foreign man, Mr Somphas’s car has a camera inside the cab, which recorded the foreign man taking the money and putting it in his pocket while Mr Somphas was beside the road emptying his bladder.
Mr Somphas reported the theft to
Chalong Police and provided the video
footage of the foreign man taking the money.
He also contacted the woman who had booked the cab, and subsequently contacted the foreign man, who initially refused to present himself at the police station.
However, the man changed his mind after Tourist Police were also contacted, who instructed Mr Somphas to let the Chalong Police handle the matter.
“The man at first still denied that he stole the money, but then admitted that he did after seeing the video footage showing him take it,” Mr Somphas said.
In the end, Mr Somphas was handed
back B4,000: the B3,600 originally stolen and B400 for the trouble caused.
Mr Somphas urged other drivers to be careful about the money they keep unattended in the car.
"As a driver, all I want to do is provide
the best service to my passengers.
I keep the cash there so I can easily give the change to the passengers," Mr Sompas said.
“I never thought that a passenger would steal my money like this," he said.