South Carolina Thai restaurant owner finds $12,000 in old toolbox cabinet. What he did with it next has the internet singing his praise

A South Carolina restaurant owner is earning widespread praise after he discovered a significant sum of cash left behind in his building and went to great lengths to return it to its rightful owner. Sak Yiengjuntuek, who runs Lemon Grass Pho and Thai Cuisine in Myrtle Beach, found $12,000 stashed away inside an old toolbox cabinet, WMFB News reported. This situation highlights how much can change in just a few months, especially when unexpected obstacles force a small business to pause operations.

The chain of events began when a fire occurred at the Wholesale Furniture Gallery, which is located right next door to the restaurant. The damage from that fire caused a power outage that forced Yiengjuntuek to close his doors for several months. It was a difficult period for the business, but things finally started looking up when the power was restored to the building. On a date around May 2025, or perhaps a week or two prior, Yiengjuntuek finally regained electricity and began the process of cleaning up his space to prepare for a grand reopening.

During this cleanup effort, he decided to move a specific piece of furniture that had been sitting behind the building since he first took over the space in April 2025. This item was an old toolbox cabinet that he believed belonged to the previous tenant. Yiengjuntuek decided to move the cabinet to his home, but he had no idea that he was carrying a small fortune inside the drawers. As he began sorting through the contents, he stumbled upon a simple sunglasses case. He initially thought it was just a discarded item.

But when he opened it, he realized it was holding a massive amount of cash

“$12,000, that’s a lot of money, $12,000,” Yiengjuntuek said. “Well, it was a shock to me that I found old money in the cabinet in the back of my restaurant. The two cabinet is owned by the previous owner.” He later elaborated on the moment of discovery, noting, “I thought it was just sunglasses, you know, I threw away a lot of stuff. And then, ‘oh, there’s money in there,’ I was shocked.”

Finding that much cash is the kind of thing that could change someone’s life, and it would be easy for many people to justify keeping it. However, Yiengjuntuek had a very different perspective on the matter. He explained that his primary goal was to find the person who actually owned the money. “The first thing in my mind was that I’d try to find the right person to get this money back to or the rightful owner for this money, that was the first thing I think of,” he shared.

He firmly believes that integrity is the foundation of both business and personal character. “I feel like this is the right thing to do. You know, it doesn’t belong to you, you need to return to someone else that it belongs to. That’s the key,” he said. He added that he was taught from a young age to always do the right thing, regardless of the temptation to do otherwise. “I mean, someone can literally look at that and open the drawer and get the money and never return,” he noted, acknowledging how easily the situation could have gone the other way.

The process of returning the money wasn’t exactly straightforward. When he first tried to call the former owner, the phone number he had on file was disconnected. Most people might have given up at that point, but Yiengjuntuek was determined. He recalled that he might have saved the number under a different contact name, so he decided to try one more time. His persistence paid off when the call finally went through. He told the man, “I got some good news. I found the old money.”

The timing of the return was incredibly fortunate. The former owner is currently dealing with serious health issues, and he told Yiengjuntuek that the money could not have come at a better time. It is a heartwarming conclusion to a stressful situation for both parties involved.

The story eventually made its way to the internet, where people were quick to applaud his character. A clip of Yiengjuntuek telling his story was reshared by an X user named @mattvanswol, and the comments were filled with positivity. People called him a great person and a business owner who deserves to be supported by the community.

While he didn’t share if he received any kind of reward for his honesty, I feel he gained something far more valuable in the eyes of his customers and the public. He proved that even when you are dealing with the aftermath of a disaster, choosing to do the right thing is the best way to move forward.