Sombat and his friend, Thanongsack, found a bag left behind by a customer who earlier that evening dined at the Lao restaurant "Khop-jai-der" (or "Thank you" in Lao) located at the center of the capital Vientiane. A few days later, they returned the bag with all its contents back to the owner named Sergey Stepanov, a Russian national. The bag contained all of the owner's documents and also money in dollars, Thai baht, and Lao kip, worth of about $US 10,000.

The owner of the bag gave some money to Sombat and his friend in recognition for their kind-hearted honesty.

Are Sombat and his friend really honest guys, or just plain naive dudes?

http://www.manager.co.th/IndoChina/ViewNew...D=9510000099984

[quote name='Bounthy' date='Sep 3 2008, 01:14 PM' post='3907228'
.........Are Sombat and his friend really honest guys, or just plain naive dudes?.....
.........
[/quote]

at first glance, the question begs a simple answer,
but i really dont think that you are looking for that.

if you think about it, there are, however, cultures left in this world that still
show kindness to strangers.

many instances such as this act of kindness or behaviour have been reported before in laos.

besides, what these two fellows did may not have benefited them directly,
aside from "..money, recognition for their kind-hearted honesty".

however, you can see that this act of kindness is very symbolic.
travellers who read the article and those that experienced this kindness
will likely spread the good public image around the world,
a kind of free publicity the public relation comittee could only dream of.

......

so i really like the name sombat,
is that like a movie star kind of a name?

It is hard to say if they are really being honest or just being naive. If what's inside the bag is worth $10,000 u.s.a, that's a lot of money in Laos. A teacher only get pay $30.00 a month in Laos. $10,000 is worth his/her pay check for the next 27 years.

If I were to find a bag equal the value in the United States, which if it is in the value of 27 years of a professional income, I will probably have a hard time returning it.

it sounds like Bounthy was looking for a negative answer on what could be a positive viewed on Laos. lame!

Insightful reply!

Sombat is a name regularly found in Laos. You probably heard about Sombat Methanee, a former well-known Thai actor. He must be now close to his 70s. Lukelao referred to his name in Thai chat in the topic "Thai stars versus Lao-isan stars", or something.

Yep, $10,000 represents a huge sum of money for people in most of the developing world. You are being realistic. I think Sombat and his friend must have had the same feeling as yours before they ended up choosing a "wise" decision, which has become more and more unusual in this world.

i seriously disagree that it is a regular lao name although not uncommon.

And here is someone who managed to miss the whole point!

What a shock...!!!

sombat is my uncles name.

...so is the name of several Laotians that I know, mostly among older people. Sombat is frequent both in Laos and in Isan.

Sombat Simlah is an excellent blind Khene player from Roi-Et.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqpiVjQr5kE...feature=related

yea i would of made the wise choice to becuz think about his village or family that much money can really help it
i might give the documents back cuz i wouldnt understand it but i would keep the money
and if he ask i would say it was never thier maybe somebdy took it b4 i found the bag

It's pure honest guys. It was under their care for few days, therefore, they have plenty of time to search through. Which is rare, and there are good and bad people in Lao society, just like many part of the world.

the point that i got from reading was you question their honesty and they are naive for their good deed.
tell me what did i missed.

thank you.

What you missed? you chose to misunderstand the purpose of the message (that aimed to invite members to discuss an interesting case that has become these days more and more like an exception), and instead you immediately focused your attention on questioning the motive of the messenger.

If my initial intention were to question the honesty of Sombat, then I would have simply put a question mark in the topic title,.i.e., "a honest man?"

ah huh -nuff saids.

His deed is truly great, regardless of whatever his intention is.

So, deed is good enough, questioning intention is pointless in this case.

"""Are Sombat and his friend really honest guys, or just plain naive dudes?"""

Your ability to understand English, especially in your own distorted way is amazing.

Well, there are at least 4 other members who were able to clearly understand the topic and the question the way they were presented, and were positive and open-minded enough to come up with their own thinking on the subject presented.

There are so many factors to the story that we don't know. Whether they are really honest or not, only them and God know. What's important is they return it back. Their wives probably won't let them touch them for a few weeks, who knows.

<br /><br /><br />

you are absolutely right, sibazoda.

there are too many angles that can be spun from this one act or event.
an event, an ending: something that have been lost and now found.

allow me to elaborate.

imagine that you were late to a movie and walked in only to find out that
you have missed all but the last 5 min. of the movie.

however, you know enough that sombat (the movie star) and
his friend (we will call him the sidekick) just returned something of great value to its distraught owner.
so sombat and his sidekick saved the day.

now, when you got home your gf asked how did the movie end and why did that sombat guy and sidekick
have to return the money and stuff to the helpless tourist.
she reminded you that sombat and sidekick were poor and if they have kept the money,
they wouldn't have to work so hard for the rest of their lives anymore.

you wanted to tell your gf that because you were flirting with a pretty freshman girl at the library,
have lost track of time, and got to the movie late.

but you can't do that!

now what?


how on heaven are you going to piece together what really happened.
a harder challenge is how you are going to get into sombat and his sidekick heads and
to explain why and how? the two friends have the good in their possession for a few days and in those days
were they tormented about what to do and what about the wives?
were the wives surprised and what role did they play in all of this?

so many angles, so many vantage points, and so many possible plots.
as you rewind back the event in your mind,
please allow for some action, suspense, and humor.

LOL! now i don't understand english. perhaps i know what youre getting at, you want negativity for something that was done positively. yes positive view! thats
you will get from other who read the article but not you -you seek ulterior motive.

buc lieng pen angkit thare muong kone diow hun bor!!! u gonna need someone to translate that

Nungsongsam,

The door should open wide for a topic for others to share and talk about. I see that Bounthy's topic here is legitimated. I didn't see anything wrong with it. The only person who could possibly get mad or dislike this topic is Sombat and his friend. Other than that I don't see there is any reason someone would have to turn this topic into something else.

the door is still open.... bounthy's topic (to me) worth noting his intent and purpose and i think that is legitimate as well. i never said he was wrong and i dont think Sombat will be in this forum (i could be wrong) to read it, mind you it is still within the topic, have not turn it into anything else.

123

well you have to look at the endless possibilities, maybe sombat is deeply religious and that can affect someone tremendously. so karma and what not.

or maybe he played GTAIV and he knew what russians are capable of


first time i've read some sort of rational thinking by you




no he did not say you didn't understand english, you distorted his statements in what you want to hear. its fine to look at the underlining assumptions and interest but treading on dangerous ground IF there is personal underlining assumptions and interests that misconstrue the true motive on the OP.

Oh pal! what a tragedy. I did not say I am native english speaker, I am an immigrant like most members here.
And I did not say you did not understand english. I meant you chose to understand it (my message) the way you see it fit to suit your own "biased" way. All members who posted comments related to this topic focused on the message, except you.

Don't try to put that "negative" word in my mouth. It's you who began mentioning "negative" in your first post (#4) and now in this post once more.

And now you end up revealing your own motive. No one even asked for it.

What's wrong with you, 123? Go out and take a walk in a park, or do something!

I think they are really honest guys and there's nothing more noble than doing the right and honest thing. Sombat and his friends are great examples and hopeful messages that tell the world there are still good people walking the face of the earth.

my motivation was never hidden you had to hide yours in on a topic. end.

... then why you continue to deceive yourself unnecessarily.

Let's move one.

I think returning money to the owner is a must for ppl related to the restuarant.

A couple years ago, My friends went back to Laos. On the way, he visited Bangkok and went to some restuarant. When he return to his hotel, He forgot his Bag which have many expensive things inside at the restuarant. When he go back and ask the ppl in the restaurant they said they dont know.

Too many thieves in Thailand, more than the Laos population combined.