Rich rewards offered for info on currency counterfeiters

With large numbers of fake banknotes now circulating in Thailand, especially in the north of the country, the Digital Economy and Society Ministry Saturday announced a counterfeit rewards system for those canny enough to spot the fakes and turn them in.

If you come up with information on counterfeit banknotes, you can expect to be rewarded with up to 100,000 baht (US$2,500).

The ministry’s centre for combatting fake news said if you find any questionable banknotes and can provide information on where and from whom they came, you should present yourself at a nearby police station or Bank of Thailand office, where you stand a chance of being richly rewarded, but not too richly.

The Finance Ministry is offering a maximum of 100,000 baht (or 30 per cent of the value of counterfeit money confiscated) if suspects are apprehended and convicted. Police officers working counterfeiting cases are also eligible for rewards.

To make things easier for amateur sleuths, the Bank of Thailand has issued some simple tips to help us identify forgeries.

The three methods may help you tell genuine banknotes from fakes – look, feel and tilt.

Look – HM the King’s portrait watermark and the translucent denomination can be observed on both sides when viewing the note against the light.

Feel – The paper is made from cotton fibre which makes it tough and durable. The thickness of each denomination is different. Notes are printed using the Intaglio process which results in raised print and clearly defined images. Raised print can be easily felt around the royal emblem and the denomination in words and numerals.

Tilt – Arabic numerals are hidden in the elaborate pattern at the lower left corner of every banknote. These latent numbers can be seen when the note is viewed from the lower left corner towards the middle part of the note.

The reward will come in two payments. The first half can be claimed when the prosecutor makes a prosecution order. The other half will be forthcoming only when the court issues a guilty verdict, so good luck with that.

An application for a reward can be sent to the treasury department or any provincial governor’s office within 90 days of the prosecution of offenders.