Taxi driver returns 26 million baht | Bangkok Post: learning

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Singapore taxi driver returns 26 million baht left in taxi in a paper bag to Thai couple vacationing in Singapore.

Singaporean taxi driver Sia Ka Tian AFP

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Breakingnews

Cabbie returns $1.1m to couple

20/11/2012
AFP News agency
Agence France-Presse

A Singaporean taxi driver has been heralded as a hero after he returned S$1.1 million (26 million baht) in cash to a vacationing Thai couple who had left the money in his cab.

Sia Ka Tian, 70, was shocked to find the money in a black paper bag on the back seat on Monday after he dropped the couple off at a shopping centre.

"When I saw the money, I thought, trouble is here. I was sure there was at least $200,000 in the bag,'' the Straits Times quoted the 31-year veteran in the taxi business as saying.

But when he brought the money to transport company ComfortDelGro's lost-and-found office, his stunned colleagues counted $1.1 million in thousand-dollar bills.

"The money is unimportant to me. It doesn't belong to me, so how can I use it?'' he told the newspaper.

The Thai couple reported the loss to the transport company and Mr Sia was waiting for them when they arrived to claim the money.

The report did not say what the couple were doing with such a large sum.

The driver received an undisclosed cash reward from the grateful couple, whose names have been withheld, and the company also plans to give him an award for good service.

"Finding one million dollars in cash is not an everyday affair and in fact, we wonder how many people would have possibly been tempted'' to pocket it, company spokeswoman Tammy Tan told AFP.

"We are immensely proud of him and are glad that the passengers recovered their money.''

It was the second most valuable item returned by a cabbie working for the company. In 2009, another taxi driver returned five kilogrammes of gold bars worth $377,000.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Breakingnews, Cabbie returns $1.1m to couple, 20/11/2012, AFP News agency, Agence France-Presse, link) 


Good Samaritan Vocabulary
 
good samaritan - a person who helps other people when they are in trouble (See Wikipedia)
samaritan - Same as "good samaritan"

ethics - a set of ideas and principles that people use to decide what is the right and wrong thing to do in a certain situation จริยธรรม (See Wikipedia)

cabbie - a taxi driver
couple - two people who are married or are involved in a romantic relationship คุ่รัก

cabbie returns $1.1m to couple

heralded as - called .... (something good and great)
heralded as a hero
a Singaporean taxi driver has been heralded as a hero

vacationing
vacationing couple

cash - money เงินสด
he returned 26 million baht in cash to a vacationing Thai couple who had left the money in his cab

shocked - very surprised ประหลาดใจ
he was shocked to find the money in a black paper bag on the back seat

drop off - to send people to a place in your car
he dropped the couple off at a shopping centre

veteran - a person who has a lot of experience in a particular area or activity ผู้อาวุโส
the 31-year veteran in the taxi business

transport - to move people or things from one place to another ขนส่ง
transport company

lost-and-found office - a place where things that people lose (misplace, cannot find) are brought when other people find them (See Wikipedia)

stunned - very shocked or upset ทำให้ตกใจ ทำให้วิตกกังวล
colleagues - people who work together; the people you work with

he brought the money to the transport company's lost-and-found office

stunned  - very surprised, shocked ประหลาดใจ
colleagues - the people you work with
stunned colleagues

bills - bank note (the actual paper of a 20, 100 or 1000 baht note) ธนบัตร
thousand-dollar bills

his stunned colleagues counted $1.1 million in thousand-dollar bills

claim - 1. to get something that is your's that someone is keeping for you (example: claim baggage); 2. to win something มีชัยชนะ
claim the money
the people reported the loss to the company and later arrived to claim the money 

sum - an amount of something, especially money จำนวนเงิน
a large sum
the report did not say what the couple were doing with such a large sum

grateful - a feeling that you want thank someone because they have given you something or done something for you สำนึกบุญคุณ
the grateful couple

reward - money that someone receives for finding and returning something or for helping the police or for good behaviour or good work, etc รางวัล
cash reward

undisclosed - without telling where someone or something is; not reported publicly ไม่เปิดเผย
undisclosed cash reward

award - a prize or a sum of money that is given to someone following an official decision รางวัล
an award for good service

the driver received an undisclosed cash reward from the grateful couple

withheld - not given to people; not made available to the public
names have been withheld

affair - an event เรื่องราว
an everyday affair - something that happens everyday (common, ordinary, usual; not strange or unusual)
not an everyday affair

finding one million dollars in cash is not an everyday affair

pocket the money - take money that is not your money, steal money 
many people would have been tempted to pocket the lost money

spokeswoman - a person whose job is to make announcements to the public for a company or organization
company spokeswoman
company spokeswoman Tammy Tan

proud - feel very good when you are someone you know is successful or does something good ภูมิใจ
immensely proud of - very proud of someone or something

recover - to get something back again (after losing it, for example)
recover money

passenger  ผู้โดยสาร
the passengers recovered their money

we are immensely proud of him and are glad that the passengers recovered their money

valuable - worth a lot of money มีค่า
it was the second most valuable item returned by a cabbie working for the company

gold bars  
five kilogrammes of gold bars worth $377,000

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