An anonymous donor comes to the aid of much loved incarcerated garbage collector

An anonymous donor has come to the aid of a much loved garbage collector. Surat Maneenopparastsuda found himself in hot water when he decided to sell music and compact disks that he collected on his garbage run, what he did not know what that he was committing the crime of copyright infringement . The hard working man was arrested for selling pirated movies and CD’s and was ordered to pay a sum of BT133,400 for the crimes he had committed. The friendly garbage collector had no money to pay the fine so was instead taken to the Pathum Thani Central Detention Centre to pay off his fine by serving 667 days in jail, 200 baht for each day.

The 28 year old man’s case attracted widespread sympathy because he committed the crimes out of ignorance. However a Good Samaritan came to the rescue and paid the fine for Surat at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok yesterday morning. The donor, who wished to remain anonymous made the payment via his lawyer.

Surat’s daughter Jantima and his father Surasit Maneenopparatsuda rushed to the court as soon as they heard that the fine had been paid.

“We are grateful for the many people who wish to help our family,” Surasit said. He then rushed to Pathum Thani Central Detention Centre to see his son.

After being released, Surat expressed thanks to everyone who offered him help. “I will go back to work to support my parents and my daughter,” he said.
Later in the day, Surat gave flowers to Sukhumbhand for extending help and allowing him to continue working for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA). He told the reporters that he was selling the CD’s to raise money for his family, his wife was pregnant with his second child at the time so he scoured the house for something to sell, got CD’s from friends and from piles of garbage, he went on to say he has learned a very expensive lesson.

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