A French tourist who accidentally left around S$3,800 in cash at a hotel in Phuket, Thailand, was able to recover the money after an honest housekeeper found it and alerted the management.
The tourist had reportedly left an envelope containing stacks of euro banknotes inside a wardrobe at OASIS Phuket Airport, a four-star hotel in southern Thailand.
A housekeeper discovered the envelope after the guest had already checked out. When staff opened it, they found cash worth roughly 100,000 Thai baht, or about S$3,800.
Hotel owner contacted tourist after money was found
By the time the money was discovered, the French tourist had already left Phuket and travelled to Koh Samui.
The hotel owner, Guy Petcharat, subsequently contacted the tourist to inform him that his missing cash had been found and was being kept safely by the hotel.
The tourist then made his way back to Phuket to collect the money.
According to the hotel owner, the tourist appeared relieved and happy when the envelope was returned to him. Given the substantial amount involved, losing the cash would have been a significant blow, particularly while travelling overseas.
The incident was later shared publicly by the owner on Facebook, including photographs showing the money being returned to the tourist.
Tourist leaves 100-baht tip for honest staff
While the tourist got his entire stash of cash back, his gesture of appreciation towards the hotel staff has attracted attention online.
After receiving the envelope, he reportedly thanked the staff by leaving them a 100-baht tip.
That works out to approximately S$3.80 — just 0.1% of the S$3,800 worth of cash that had been recovered.
The stark difference between the amount returned and the tip has understandably become the talking point surrounding the incident.
For the hotel staff, however, the episode was ultimately a matter of doing the right thing. The housekeeper could have simply ignored the envelope or treated the cash as lost property, but instead handed it over so the rightful owner could be located.
The incident also serves as a reminder for travellers to double-check hotel rooms, particularly wardrobes, drawers and safes, before checking out.
For the French tourist, the 100-baht tip may have been intended as a simple token of appreciation. Nevertheless, after travelling all the way back to Phuket to recover S$3,800, he at least left the hotel with his money safely back in his possession.