Small Coin Donation Makes Headache

[george]

Small coin donation scheme proves headache for Chiang Rai officials

CHIANG RAI: -- At first, it seemed a good idea. Temples in Chiang Rai would accept donations of 25 and 50 satang coins, no longer in circulation, and take them to the provincial treasury to be exchanged for larger denominations.

But the provincial treasury has found itself unable to cope with the deluge of small coins, which keep getting stuck in its sole coin counting machine.

Mrs. Narumon Wasikchat, the province’s chief treasury officer, says that the machine was designed to take Bt1, Bt5 and Bt10 coins. Each time the machine breaks down, it has to be sent away to Chiang Mai to be repaired, at a cost of Bt2,000 each time.

Now the province’s treasury officials are having to count the coins – which are flowing in fast from temples across the province – by hand.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do”, admits Mrs. Narumol. “We’ve got a duty to exchange these coins. People have donated a huge number of coins to temples in order to make merit and restore temples. This has to be a good thing. But when our coin counting machine has broken, the provincial treasury is faced with a massive problem”.

-- TNA 2004-11-28