Thai ATM conspiracy

Do people become more absent-minded when they use ATM machines?

Maybe they have electronic rays coming off them, lulling our senses.

A few weeks ago, I used an ATM outside a bank in the market where I live in Talad Phlu.

I forgot the PIN number for my card. After I entered it incorrectly three times, the ATM machine swallowed it.

Today, after retrieving the card, I visited the same ATM machine again to withdraw money.

This time I was not the forgetful one, but the person who used it before me.

The screen was not blank, nor did it contain a welcome message, as it normally does while in stand-by mode waiting for someone to use it.

'Do you want a receipt,' it asked.

At the bottom of the screen, I read a message saying the balance in the account was B2,500.

I pressed, 'No'. A battered-looking ATM card popped out.

The person who used the machine before me forget his or her card.

A more unscrupulous person could have pressed another key and withdrawn the money, as the transaction was not yet complete.

I took the card inside the bank and gave it to a security guard.

'Someone forgot this card. It was in the ATM,' I said.

Back at home, I told the story to Thai partner Maiyuu.

'The owner is lucky I am an honest farang, and not a thieving Thai,' I said.

Maiyuu laughed.