Market Vendor Turns in Lost Wallet, Reunites It With Owner
A market vendor in Udon Thani found a lost wallet containing ID documents and 370 baht, turning it in to police instead of keeping it, allowing the grateful owner to retrieve everything intact the next day.
On August 18, Deputy Sergeant Major Songphop Kamjai of Udon Thani City Police received a report from a 52-year-old market vendor and good citizen who had found a white women's wallet at the Municipality Market 2 in Mak Khaeng subdistrict. The wallet contained government documents, a national ID card, several other important cards, and 370 baht in cash. Police logged the find and traced the owner.
The vendor, Nang, explained that her granddaughter discovered the wallet on August 16 while opening their market stall. Nang found it still there the next morning when she arrived to set up. After seeing it contained important documents and ID cards, she decided to safeguard it and wait for the owner to come retrieve it. When no one claimed it after another day, she brought it to police because she feared the owner would face hardship, especially regarding lost documents.
"We didn't want to keep what wasn't ours. We were worried about the owner having trouble, especially with important documents. We wanted them to come get it back quickly," Nang said.
Kinirat, 53, the wallet's owner, later came to Udon Thani City Police to retrieve it. She confirmed all contents were intact, not a single baht missing. Kinirat recalled shopping at the market that day, buying vegetables and other items, unaware she had lost the wallet. She only noticed it missing around 9 p.m. that evening after checking at home. She was anxious until police called to say a good citizen had found it and turned it in.
Kinirat revealed her greatest worry was not the 400 baht in cash, but her bedridden mother's ID card. Replacing it would have been difficult and troublesome. "At first I thought if someone kept the money, that was okay as long as they returned my national ID. I never expected to get everything back intact. I'm truly grateful to the good citizen and the police," she said emotionally.
When asked if she would be more careful in future, Kinirat laughed good-naturedly: "I'll probably forget just like before. I'm naturally forgetful anyway."
The heartwarming story brought joy to everyone involved—both the wallet's finder and its owner.
