Down on his luck and barely making any money for the day, a hungry man in Thailand approached a restaurant, asking for leftover food.
The owner stopped him — and offered to cook him a fresh meal instead.
The heartwarming moment was shared on TikTok, where it quickly gained more than 102,000 views and was reshared by Thai mainstream media, drawing almost five million views in just over a day.
In the caption, the owner of the Rayong-based restaurant explained that the middle-aged man walked past the eatery at 1.21pm on Tuesday (6 May).
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
He spotted an employee clearing plates of uneaten food left behind by customers, and asked him if he could have the leftovers.
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
After the staff agreed, the man took a plate and scraped the food scraps into his bag.
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
The pitiful scene was witnessed by the restaurant’s owner, who approached and asked the man what he was doing.
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
After being told that he was going to eat the leftovers, she took the bag of leftovers from him.
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
Instead, she told him that they would cook him a fresh meal for free and add in a drink, too.
Some of the staff were so sympathetic to his situation that they gave the man about 200 baht (S$8) to help him out.
“Starvation is terrifying,” the owner reflected in her TikTok caption.
In a comment, the owner also revealed that the man told her he collected garbage, similar to a karang guni man in Singapore.
Unfortunately, someone had beaten him to his usual spot that day, leaving him without enough income for a meal.
Translation: We asked the uncle. He said he collects garbage to sell. However, he was unlucky that day as someone beat him to his spot.
Source: @aumkwan01 on TikTok
She had told the man to come over to the restaurant if he did not have enough money to eat, saying:
We don’t have much, but we have enough to share.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured images adapted from @aumkwan01 on TikTok.