PHETCHABURI: After opening a new account at a Krungthai Bank branch with a 9,000 baht deposit, Wuttichai Meemak was stunned to discover his account showed an available balance of almost one billion baht.
Mr Wuttichai wrote on his Facebook account that he opened the account at KTB’s Cha-am branch on Feb 27.
After getting his ATM card he used it in a machine outside the bank, intending to transfer some money. He was gobsmacked to discover his account had a huge balance. It showed 999,999,999 baht, not the 9,000 baht he expected.
He initially thought the ATM had developed a technical problem. So he moved to another machine, which also showed the same astonishing balance in his account.
“I tried to check whether it was error. I did withdraw 20,000 baht from the ATM, and the cash came out. In fact, I earlier deposited 9,000 baht. But the ATM slip still showed 999,999,999 baht," he wrote.
"Images of a car and a house immediately came to my mind, only to be replaced with a jail, a jail and a jail. So I informed the bank. The bank staff were stunned. But it’s not my money.’’
The story of the ATM slip, his bank account showing the huge balance and his experience went viral online and was picked by several media outlets.
The bank thanked him for reporting the error to its staff. The problem was fixed and after a brief moment of seemingly amazing wealth, he again had a balance of only 9,000 baht - before withdrawals.
