The tourist, Dipoko Dipoko Eugene, 29, explained that he had arrived in Phuket on holiday on December 7, but had lost his wallet in Patong two days later. It was not revealed how his wallet became lost.
“He still had his return flight ticket with him, so the staff at the hotel where he was staying sent him here to the airport,” said Pattarawadee Phanbua of the Phuket Tourist Assistance Center.
“We found him on Saturday (Dec 12). He was sleeping on the floor and had not eaten,” Ms Pattarawadee told The Phuket News today (Dec 16).
Mr Dipoko’s flight home was booked for December 28, so he had to change to an earlier flight, but he was unable to contact his airline in his home country, she explained.
“We brought him some food while we tried to contact his airline and his family, but it was not easy to make contact on the weekend,” she said. “So we let him stay with us while we tried to sort out his problem.”
But now with support from officials at the airport, Mr Dipoko explained that he did not want to go home. It was his first time in Thailand and he had spent only a few days in the Kingdom.
“We managed to contact a friend of his on Facebook who transferred some money to his account on Monday (Dec14). He was very happy and he thanked us a lot,” Ms Patarawadee said.
Mr Dipoko went back to his hotel in Patong that same day, apparently very happy to be able to continue his holiday as planned.
“In some cases, when things like this happen on the weekend, it is not easy to contact anyone at that time, but in this case we are very happy that we could help the tourist and make him happy,” said Santi Pawai, Director of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Phuket office.
Additional reporting by Saroj Kueprasertkij