Garbage collector gives would-be donors a reality check

Vint Chavala’s letter of about the anonymous donor who freed garbage collector Surat Maneenopparatsuda from a 667-day prison sentence by paying off his Bt133,400 fine is touching, and it was nice to read about Vint’s emotion for a change. 

The publicity over this act of kindness has also attracted many offers of donations to the collector. So it gave me immense pleasure to read in the Sunday Nation (“Garbage man declines donation from actress”, November 16) that the collector had rejected an offer of Bt50,000 from actress Panadda “Boom” Wongphudee. His reason was simple – “I have freedom, a job, a loving family and no debt”. Great words from a “rich” man who wants for nothing, and also an effective way of stopping all the publicity seekers from capitalising on his accidental star status. I venture to guess that the collector is, innately, a happier person than his would-be benefactress and also likely to reject any offer to appear on a talk show. 

Songdej Praditsmanont