A good deed

[nkped 1,208]

I go to the neighborhood market to buy food for the dog.  Walking back to the truck I realize my wallet is not in my pocket.?  Go back to the stand where I got the food in case I laid it down--honest blank looks.  Did I leave it in the truck and just take cash?  On the way a Thai man holds up a Thai driver's licence, mine and asks "you?" and hands me my wallet.  He said he had seen it fall out of my pocket.  I very nearly hugged him.  I had the sense/good grace to wait until I got back to the truck to see if the money was still in it.  It was.

[Olded 243]

I think you should of had sense/good grace to open it and give a reward for his honesty in giving it back.

[JONPAT 222]

13 hours ago, Olded said:

I think you should of had sense/good grace to open it and give a reward for his honesty in giving it back.

Sounds like a good thing, wonder if it'd jinx his good karma for doing a good deed?

[nkped 1,208]

13 hours ago, Olded said:

I think you should of had sense/good grace to open it and give a reward for his honesty in giving it back.

I thought about that but he seemed to be waiving me off.  Anyway, in farang land, if someone dropped their wallet and you said "hey buddy", you would not expect a reward.

[awesum4 2,333]

In farangland I've had someone find a wallet I dropped and return it to me. I gave them a reward for doing so. I think its definitely the right thing to do.

[BeerBelly 1,026]

On 2/9/2020 at 2:34 PM, nkped said:

I go to the neighborhood market to buy food for the dog.  Walking back to the truck I realize my wallet is not in my pocket.?  Go back to the stand where I got the food in case I laid it down--honest blank looks.  Did I leave it in the truck and just take cash?  On the way a Thai man holds up a Thai driver's licence, mine and asks "you?" and hands me my wallet.  He said he had seen it fall out of my pocket.  I very nearly hugged him.  I had the sense/good grace to wait until I got back to the truck to see if the money was still in it.  It was.

If he saw it fall out of your pocket, why didn't he give it to you sooner? 

[gs joe 1,776]

48 minutes ago, BeerBelly said:

If he saw it fall out of your pocket, why didn't he give it to you sooner? 

Maybe he wished to add some extra baht,

 

[Olded 243]

On 2/11/2020 at 12:52 AM, gs joe said:

Maybe he wished to add some extra baht,

 

The man had the wallet in his hand, if he wanted extra bath all he had to do is take the money and throw the wallet away but no he gave the wallet back with all the money in it. This is not farang land and these people  are poor he should of got a nice reward for being honest.

[gs joe 1,776]

8 hours ago, Olded said:

The man had the wallet in his hand, if he wanted extra bath all he had to do is take the money and throw the wallet away but no he gave the wallet back with all the money in it. This is not farang land and these people  are poor he should of got a nice reward for being honest.

Agree ,  my remark was maybe he wished to add more cash to the poor forangs wallet ,

My  sarcasm was easily missed 

[nkped 1,208]

I'm not positive I made the right call or even what I was necessarily thinking at the moment.  One of the possibilities was that I opened it and the cash was gone. 1,500 baht would have been insignificant as long as I got the documents and cards back, but it would have been awkward.

In case you're wondering, in the Philippines, I did have my pocket picked on a jeepney, but got my wallet back sans cash.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

I tend to wear either tight Levis (shorts too) or shorts with zippered pockets, even in the USA. Because of sciatica years ago, I put my wallet in my front pocket. When walking I brush the pocket with my hand every other step. In crowds my hand is touching the outside of my pocket at a minimum. The same applies on public transportation. When I was on a crowded baht bus, I used to ride on th3e back. I read a couple of years aago that was no longer allowed. When I can, I put myself next to the rear exit.

I do everything I can think of to avoid a problem but nobody is 100% safe.

I leave documents I don't need in the room safe. I did have one robbery in a Pattaya room safe so I tend to use TCs and cash them  as needed. So I have little actual cash in my safe and only what I think I will need on hand.

I used to make a colered photocopy of my passport and cary that around. I took it with me as a temporary indication that I have one. I took the passport with me only to exchange money, then back in the safe.

These days they have a small card you can get with your passport. It's the size of a US drivers licence. I carry that now.

I have never been stopped and asked for it but the card should at least allow me to get back to the room for the actual document if needed. Maybe not but I doubt it is a big deal. How many westerners are wandering around Pattaya without documentation at all. I see guys in speedos and tank tops often, for instance.

[jacko 8,815]

17 hours ago, nkped said:

In case you're wondering, in the Philippines, I did have my pocket picked on a jeepney, but got my wallet back sans cash.

I hear they are very skilled, even able to use a razor and get into pockets that are not easily opened. 

[awesum4 2,333]

I have never worked out why guys keep their wallet in a back pocket. Front pocket is way more secure.

[Regyai 415]

I've never worked out the need for wallets

 

I come from a country that requires no ID or routine carry of Driving documents, and you sure as hell cant get much money in one

 

They seem though to sate a subliminal urge to hawk about coupons, vouchers, photos of nasty looking kids and scruffy dogs

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

59 minutes ago, Regyai said:

I've never worked out the need for wallets

 

I come from a country that requires no ID or routine carry of Driving documents, and you sure as hell cant get much money in one

 

They seem though to sate a subliminal urge to hawk about coupons, vouchers, photos of nasty looking kids and scruffy dogs

You are lucky. I can walk around without ID here but have to have a DL on my person to drive. If stopped by police, I have seen people briefly detained for not having ID but not arrested. I need someplace to carry my AAA road service card. As it applies to cars in am riding in even if I am not the driver, it needs to be on my person. A lot of things require some sort of ID to prove who you are here. I have to keep my medical insurance cards on me. This and more are a convenient wallet size.

Thank God I don't have to carry a purse.

A lot of things I can now have on my cell phone. Doctor's appointments are usually placed on cards (wallet size) as reminders. I can now put that information on my phone. So things are moving to fully digital but for that to eliminate the need for wallets will require governments and businesses to all buy in and I don't see that happening any time soon. A slow but not steady march forward.

Every so often I go through the clutter in my wallet. I did so yesterday. I still had things in it from the previous state I lived in. Wallets can be a bit of a bother but one adjusts to the system one lives in.

[9cisco999 107]

On 2/10/2020 at 8:26 AM, nkped said:

I thought about that but he seemed to be waiving me off.  Anyway, in farang land, if someone dropped their wallet and you said "hey buddy", you would not expect a reward.

I kind of see the difference as being most Thais are fairly poor while falangs are not so.

I'd opt to give a reward in such a situation.

[gs joe 1,776]

5 hours ago, 9cisco999 said:

I kind of see the difference as being most Thais are fairly poor while falangs are not so.

I'd opt to give a reward in such a situation.

In the cold light of day yes , but under stress we some times don't think straight ,

The OP explained this ,

[jacko 8,815]

14 hours ago, awesum4 said:

I have never worked out why guys keep their wallet in a back pocket. Front pocket is way more secure.

I have always, and still carry mine in my back pocket, personally I wonder why anyone would use the front pocket, trying to impress the sheep? 

It is uncomfortable and very difficult to access up front..... the wallet needs to be out of the way for GGB activities too.

Sat on it, I know where it is at!

[nkped 1,208]

11 hours ago, Regyai said:

I've never worked out the need for wallets

 

I come from a country that requires no ID or routine carry of Driving documents, and you sure as hell cant get much money in one

 

They seem though to sate a subliminal urge to hawk about coupons, vouchers, photos of nasty looking kids and scruffy dogs

I go a bit beyond this, but I won't go out the door without my Thai d.l., my health insurance card and a high limit credit card.  You never know when you may be going to the hospital instead of back to the room.

[forcebwithu 4,854]

3 hours ago, nkped said:

I go a bit beyond this, but I won't go out the door without my Thai d.l., my health insurance card and a high limit credit card.  You never know when you may be going to the hospital instead of back to the room.

Same here, but don't carry a credit card, too much of a hassle to replace if lost or stolen. Instead carry two bank ATM cards. The bank accounts have a sufficient balance, along with my insurance card, to get the hospital to admit me in the event of an emergency.

[nkped 1,208]

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

Same here, but don't carry a credit card, too much of a hassle to replace if lost or stolen. Instead carry two bank ATM cards. The bank accounts have a sufficient balance, along with my insurance card, to get the hospital to admit me in the event of an emergency.

A few years back, I found myself visiting the good people at Bangkok Hospital Rayong quite unexpectedly.  Unlike BHP, they couldn't bill my insurance directly. Having a high limit credit card certainly made things simpler.

[midlifecrisis 4,048]

9 hours ago, nkped said:

A few years back, I found myself visiting the good people at Bangkok Hospital Rayong quite unexpectedly.  Unlike BHP, they couldn't bill my insurance directly. Having a high limit credit card certainly made things simpler.

Same for me when I required hospitalization for a food related illness in Bangkok years ago.

Wallet size! I have 4 cc's I travel with.