Forged 500-baht notes found

KATHU: The manager of a gas station found two forged 500-baht notes on Monday morning while counting the cash taken overnight. Sopit Chaijit, manager of a Caltex station on Wichitsongkram Rd, reported to the police that the two 500-baht notes were lighter in color than normal. Her counting machine also rejected the notes, she said. The notes were received sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning. Because the difference in color between real notes and the fake ones was slight, K. Sopit said, it was difficult for her to detect the forgeries, especially at night. Pol Capt Boonlert Pokwang of Toong Tong Police Station noted, “Usually, forged bank notes are passed off as real ones at night so that nobody will notice the difference.” The Bank of Thailand, which issued a warning about counterfeit notes in November last year, advised that fake bills are usually printed on thinner paper, which has a smoother surface than the paper used for authentic bills.