We are sad to report that Chiang Mai now has reports of people who are stealing donated food and goods, intended for the needy, only to resell them for a profit.
There has been a proliferation of the ‘happiness boxes’ across town in recent days, which has been a wonderful idea whereby anyone can drop off goods to the needy and where the needy, in theory, can simply stop by and pick up bare necessities.
Unfortunately at one temple, however, it is being reported that a small group of people are waiting for the box to fill up before scooping everything up in the box in order to resell them. Some people have even reported seeing people driving cars up to pick up items from the boxes. While there have been no confirmation of such cases and no one has been caught in the act, there has been a lot of suspicious behaviour. It is best to donate to manned boxes, or directly to charities and people who you are sure are giving goods to those who truly need them.