SINGAPORE - A cabby with taxi company SMRT Taxi has been praised for his honesty, after he purportedly returned a laptop bag containing $235,500 in cash to his drunk passenger.

In a letter published on Facebook last Saturday (July 9) by road safety community site Beh Chia Lor, Thai businessman Chukamon Khammat wrote that he boarded the taxi - licence plate number SHB1881L - at about 4am.

The cabby was later identified by Beh Chia Lor as Mr Lee Koh Wee.

Mr Khammat claimed he had been drinking with some of his business partners at Clarke Quay and was headed back to Marina Bay Sands, where had been staying.

But upon alighting from the taxi, he realised that he had left behind his laptop bag, which contained the cash.

The money, according to Mr Khammat, was given to him by investors in Singapore and was meant for business plans in Thailand.

To his immense relief, Mr Khammat said he was greeted by the sight of a panting Mr Lee in the lift lobby at about 5am.

Mr Lee shared that he had stopped at a petrol kiosk after dropping off Mr Khammat when he discovered the bag, and was shocked to discover the large amount of cash inside.

While Mr Khammat said the cabby had not requested any reward, he decided to give Mr Lee $1,000 out of sheer appreciation for his unselfish act.

Mr Khammat also learnt that Mr Lee was declared bankrupt in 2014 and had only just recently become a taxi driver.

In a Facebook post on Sunday night, SMRT said it was verifying the accuracy of Mr Khammat account and would provide an update after conducting its investigations.

An SMRT spokesman, in response to queries from The Straits Times on Monday afternoon, said that investigations were still ongoing.