One broke fisherman, Jumrus Thiachot, spotted something unusual when he was walking along one of Koh Samui’s beaches: whale vomit. He had no idea what he stumbled across, but he opted to keep it in his shed anyways.
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The 55-year-old man makes around 400 baht a day (£10.25), and he continued working and making this rate throughout the year. He had no idea that he had hit the jackpot with ambergris.
Eventually, after almost a year, he reached out to authorities. The officials confirmed that the 14lbs of substance sitting in his shed was legit whale vomit. They also claimed that the whale vomit encompassed 80% ambergris, which is the stuff perfume companies seek.
At first, neighbours ran tests on the whale vomit, but the result didn’t show anything. But Thiachot needed to know the truth, which is why he contacted the authorities to come to check out the whale vomit. He said: “Now I know it is real whale vomit I will sell it.”
Witchawuth Jinto, a provincial governor, will help Thiachot get the most bang for his buck! However, estimates declare that he could earn around $320,000 USD. Find out what other lucky ambergris discoverers earned in our video!
