Pair Nabbed For Passing Bogus Bills

[sbk]

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Pair nabbed for passing bogus bills

Pol Maj Anukul Nuket shows the difference between a bogus bill (left) and a legitimate one (right).

PHUKET / SRISOONTHORN: Thalang Police on Wednesday night arrested two men for passing counterfeit banknotes at local shops and restaurants.

Thalang Police Duty Inspector Anukul Nuket identified the suspects as 24-year-old Nikorn Raksapol from Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Pattipong Nuea-nan, 31, from Chiang Rai.

The pair were arrested at about 11 pm in the Fah Sai Restaurant in tambon Srisoonthorn Village 5 following an investigation by uniformed and plain-clothed officers.

Local merchants reported that people had been using fake 1,000 baht banknotes to make small purchases, then walking away with large amounts of real cash as change.

A formal complaint was filed at 9:30 pm on Wednesday by the owner of the Khrua Phan Laan Restaurant located at Srisoonthorn Village 1, where a man matching Nikorn’s description paid for a meal with one of the bogus bills earlier that day.

Police later found Nikorn enjoying a meal at the Fah Sai Restaurant with Mr Pattipong. The pair were arrested after they tried to pay the bill with another phony banknote. Mr Pattipong was also found in possession of another counterfeit 1,000 baht note.

All three notes collected as evidence in the case had the exact same serial number: 4 Jor 123395

Nikorn and Pattipong will be enjoying more free meals in upcoming days, courtesy of the Thalang Police. The pair will remain in custody at the station for next 12 days before their case is forwarded to the Phuket Provincial Prosecutor’s office.

Thailand has stiff anti-counterfeiting laws, with a minimum ten year prison sentence for those convicted of producing counterfeit currency.

Those found to knowingly pass counterfeit notes face sentences ranging from one to fifteen years and a fine of 2,000 to 20,000 baht.

Maj Anukul said merchants can spot fake banknotes by comparing them with real ones and looking for differences in size, color, paper quality and the image of the king.

Other telltale signs include identical serial numbers on different notes, a poor quality watermark and a lack of a reflective silver band, he said.

Source: Phuket Gazette

[alanmorison]

Phuket officials report fakes in Patong now, Christmas Day. More vendors are becoming shy of accepting 1000 baht notes.

Details at http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-fakes-...rs-avoid-notes/

[NBT TV Phuket]

item--7-- on VDO at http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...php?news_id=874

A fake bank note was found in Krabi while Krung Thai Bank reassured people that the bank machines are accurate.

A fake 500 baht bank note case was reported in Krabi after Miss Rati Mhunma paid the money to Tesco Lotus and the cashier spotted a fake bank note. The cashier refused her note which Rati said she got from an ATM belonging to Krung Thai Bank or Siam Commercial Bank. She insisted that she got the cash from an ATM, as before she went to the machine she only had 60 baht. Police seized the fake 500 bank note for inspection. On the other hand, the Manager of the Krung Thai Bank in Phuket, Peerachat Bunya, insisted that there are no fake bank notes slipping into the Krung Thai bank system. He stated that all bank notes especially 1000 bank notes are carefully and thoroughly scanned by accurate machines which can separate the fake ones.

Andaman News NBT (VHF dial) + Radio Thailand FM90.5 at 8.30am & perhaps repeats on Phuket Cable TV channel 1 at 7pm & 1am, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces & maybe Mazz Radio FM108 at 7pm in Phuket, Friday 26th December 2008 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/ & www.YouTube.com/AndamanNews.com Send comments to [email protected]