Unusual: they return a lost lottery ticket worth €170,000 the next day

A mother and daughter in northeast Thailand found a lottery ticket that turned out to be worth 6 million baht (about €170,000) the next day.

They found the note on the ground in front of a convenience store in Udon Thani province and handed it to the shop manager in case the owner came to collect it.

The lottery ticket was discovered on Sunday, the day before the bi-weekly draw on Monday.

When he realised that the ticket was the big winner, the manager handed it over to the police.

The officers interviewed the three people who returned the ticket, and the Udon Thani police chief praised all three for their honesty.

He said he planned to give them "good citizen" awards when the case was over.

The manager, the police chief, the mother and the daughter. Photo: Khaosod

When asked why he had not kept the prize for himself, the shop manager replied that he "hadn't thought of it once".

He said that when he realised it was a winning ticket, he called the legal department and his boss for advice.

He then went directly to the police station to hand in the ticket and filed a report.

"Even though the ticket is worth 6 million baht, I never thought of keeping it for myself.

I felt sorry for the real owner, who must be extremely worried.

The mother and daughter also stated that they did not want to keep the ticket because they thought it was probably illegal, even though the ticket had little value before the winning numbers were announced the next day.

Police say they have a good idea of who the rightful owner is, after viewing the CCTV footage, and are gathering evidence as quickly as possible, so that the case does not turn into a fraud between the people claiming the ticket.

They say that some of these cases have been going on for years.

Several people came forward claiming to be the real owners of the winning ticket.

The authorities say they could be prosecuted if they tried to claim the ticket illegally.

See also :

Unusual: Bangkok taxi driver returns 100,000 baht to Japanese man

Source: Thai Residents, Khaosod