Cab driver works despite his illness
Many people work to support their families. But for this old cab driver in Thailand, he works in order to survive.
On 10th September 2019, a Facebook user named Niramon Shicam shared a photo of a ‘song taew’ driver who appeared to be a frail old man with a medical tube attached to his nose.
Her caption read, “As I was on the song taew, I noticed the driver looking very bony, with a plastic tube attached into his nose.”
Note: Song taews are pick-up trucks that act as a shared taxi service, which is common in Thailand.
A photo was taken from the back of the song taew
Image credit: Niramon Shicam
When she got off at her stop, she handed the driver ฿100 instead of the original 5 baht as she felt pity for him.
Driver works to pay medical bills for mouth cancer
Ejan reported that the old man was found to have mouth cancer, thus needing a feeding tube through his nose to his stomach. Despite his illness, the man has been driving everyday in order to earn money to pay for his medical bills, and also make ends meet for him and his older sister.
Image adapted from: Niramon Shicam
It is also reported that Niramon, the woman who originally shared the photos, went to visit the driver before posting the first page of his bank book, asking netizens to help donate some money for his medical expenses. Many kind-hearted people didn’t hesitate to do just that.
However, netizens are skeptical
Thai netizens are no strangers to stories like this: a sad picture with someone asking for donations – while many cases are genuine, some have ended up being straight-up hoaxes like the Thai net idol case who was being secretive about the donated money netizens sent to help the sick girl.
Soon after the post went viral, one commenter demanded for more transparency surrounding the situation.
Translation: We need some clarifications to show that you actually have good intentions about this, like giving us more details or assuring your identity to the public. Cases like this have often turned out to be scams as we’ve seen before. It’s a donor’s right to know.
Image credit: Komchadluek
Niramon took note of the comment and posted it on her page, expressing her exhaustion over the accusatory comments. There were heated exchanges between netizens, with many urging her to share the donation numbers. Others were suspicious from the beginning.
Translation: Wait…you have to reveal the total number because you’re the one who asked for donations. Everybody has the right to know.
Image adapted from: Niramon Shicam
Translation: Something must be off if she doesn’t want to reveal the total amount.
Image adapted from: Niramon Shicam
Woman broke silence and cleared her name
Image credit: Niramon Shicam
This afternoon, Niramon finally posted the statement of the man’s old account, as well as the new one she’d opened for him, revealing the donation number of ฿769,378.76 in total.
She also announced that she was no longer accepting donations and and had terminated both accounts, handing the money over to the man’s sister, which she got on video as proof.
All ends on a good note
It seems that everything is good now that Niramon showed her transparency and the man’s family received all the donated money.
Also, it is worth noting that netizens are now more aware of scams that prey on people’s kindness. And instead of refusing to help the person in need at all, they were demanding assurance in order to give the help that they could.
Kudos to those who helped donating the money and Niramon for having good intentions. Besides all of this, we hope the driver gets well and healthy soon.
Cover image adapted from: Niramon Shicam