Even More on Counterfeit Money in Thailand

The Nation had a little more information that I haven’t seen elsewhere about the counterfeit bank note problem in Thailand.

Apparently if you’re withdrawing money from the bank ATM you need not worry says one official. ATM’s cannot be fooled - they don’t have ANY fake bank notes. The banks screen their cash thoroughly and there’s no need to worry.

The second piece of new information mentioned specific serial numbers that one should pay close attention to… here’s the quote from this The Nation article:

Can ATMs be fooled?

Some people are even worried about the possibility of receiving fake notes from ATMs.

“That possibility is nil,” Thai Bankers’ Association secretary general Thawatchai Yongkittikul insists. “Banks have effective systems to detect counterfeit notes. Our automatic machines can distinguish the fake from the authentic too.”

Members of the general public are being asked to look out for the forgeries.

How to spot one

According to a Bangkok Bank source, notes with serial numbers starting 9A650 and 2D150 should be examined carefully.

More on Counterfeit Notes in Thailand

Official site links with great images to help you identify if you have valid notes.

You’ve gotta check every note you receive because you might lose that amount when someone you try to give it to refuses.

I think the Thai word for fake bank notes is same as for other objects that are not “jing-jing” (original). They call it “blawm”. Anyone correct me if I’m wrong.

Counterfeit deterrence >

Counterfeit deterrence 2 >

Counterfeit deterrence 3 >

Video Inside Thai Prison

This was an exceptional video I just happened upon while looking up popular videos on YouTube aboutThailand. This is a story about 3 Australians that were trying to smuggle heroin in condoms and got caught.

It’s not the Bangkok Hilton experience that it used to be, but I can imagine it’s bad enough.

Thai Prison Video >

Fake 1000 Thai Baht Notes Circulating in Thailand

AbsolutelyBangkok.com had a useful post today that popped up in my feed reader. Apparently 19,000 fake 1,000 baht notes have been found so far in a recent wave of counterfeit.

Here’s the problem…

The user of such banknotes will be subject to a maximum of 15 years behind bars and a maximum fine of 30,000 baht.

So, it pays to know what they look like and start having a look at your cash.

Below gives an indication of where to look. Click on the image to go to the original site and see the large images.

Read his Counterfeit 1,000 Baht Note Post, it’s interesting…

Photo Credit: AbsolutelyBangkok.com

Thailand FAQ

I’ve been meaning to do a Thailand FAQ for a long time. There are many questions visitors and expats alike have about Thailand and most visitors I’m sure end up using a TH FAQ before coming to LOS. I wanted to make one that’s useful and that combines not only my knowledge but other resources as well.

Thailand FAQ is a pool of information from a number of sites - and I’ll be adding to it over today and tomorrow as well. There are many subjects that deserve a whole FAQ for themselves. The Full Moon Party was one of them.

If you have written a FAQ about some part of Thailand - the culture, attractions, anything really - shoot me a link and let me see if it will fit with this Thailand FAQ collection.

Keeping Valuables Safe While Traveling in Thailand

Usually this doesn’t happen on such a large scale, but there was a story today in the Bangkok Post about a bus from Chiang Mai to Bangkok that stopped and 7 bags were taken. The bus staff disappeared and tourists were left sleeping in the middle of nowhere.

Full story >

If I’m on a train, bus, van, or ferry boat to Ko Samui, Ko Tao or wherever I’m going I have one small backpack that contains everything of value. Computer, phones, translator, external hard drives, USB drives, Camera, batteries, chargers, ID, almost everything. I don’t let that bag go.

If I’m on the boat sleeping on the floor as in the night Surat to Ko Samui ferry I wrap the straps of the bag through my arms and sleep with my head on it as a pillow. If I’m on the train I wrap my bag in a sheet and then wedge it behind my pillow tightly as I sleep. If I have another bag I have climbing snaps that I use to snap to the handles of the bag and then to the underside of the metal cage of the baggage holder. In the train there is a wire mesh - easy to clip onto. I make the clips very hard to reach from the isle - one would have to go through a lot of trouble - or knife the handle to get the bag.

At times I have put a string on my bag to my wrist so that if someone tries to take the bag - they’ll take me too.

If I plan on falling asleep in a bus I make sure my backpack is under my legs and wedged in tightly so if someone tries to pull it out - I’ll feel it. I don’t have a wallet - haven’t for 4 years. I keep my cash and ATM cards usually in my front pocket and the pocket is deep.

When I walk around Thailand I never have more than 5,000 baht on me at any one time (anymore). I’ve known 2 backpackers that had their shirts pulled over their heads near Khao San road because the Thais knew they had a money belt around their waist. I’ve had a friend lose his wallet on the bus as he slept. Another lost a bag while she was on the ferry.

I don’t leave my helmet unlocked. I’ve lost 5 helmets in Thailand so far, some of them WERE locked under the seat. I don’t know why - but, Thais love white helmets.

I don’t wear any jewelry.

In the last 3 years I’ve not used a wall safe at a hotel. The one time I did I walked in to find 2 thieves in my room. There’s a lengthy story about this that I’ll not tell here but, will be in the bio someday as it’s definitely worth telling the whole story. On that occasion I lost way over 100,000 baht and luckily that’s all I lost. No, the money wasn’t in the hotel safe, but some camera equipment was and they took some of that too.

I don’t sleep with the windows open as I know too many foreigners (teachers mostly) that left windows open and woke up to missing cell phones, purses, and cash. Even when there are bars on the window. Apparently a stick with a hook is pretty effective at grabbing things through the window.

I can’t think of anything else right now - anyone have any other ideas?

Trust No One

I read a post this morning about an incident that may have been an attempt at an abduction of a child by a Thai man.

Thai man says to girl, “get into the truck”…

Thought you should read it too in case you have kids in Thailand. In my experience I’ve not seen many Thai men act overly nice toward someone else’s kids. I don’t see them play with them, talk to them, smile at them or anything else. Thai men pretty much ignore kids - especially someone elses kids.

Could be entirely innocent - but I don’t trust anyone here. Not Thai, not farang. You can’t. There are so many predators here - of all sorts, that if you let your guard down you might be had.

Who wants to be had?

Black Magic Curse? Head Monk Gives Gasoline Mixture to Young Man… and Kills Him.

The Abbot of a Buddhist temple in Surin, a northeastern Thailand province gave this to a young 23 year old Thai man. Think the monk will go to jail for telling the kid to drink the holy water which was really a mixture of gasoline and something else?

This story from Thai Rath and posted at PhuketGazette on 10/24.

Cruel cure for unlucky lad

SURIN: Sometimes, a cure can be worse than the illness. This was certainly the case for one young man who went to the local temple to perform a ceremony to ward off bad luck, but ended up dying after drinking “blessed water” prepared by the temple abbot.

Twenty-three year old Bunyang Khreuaniam of Khwao Sinarin District on September 30 told his mother that had been warned by someone trained in the arts of black magic that he was in for some bad luck.

Concerned that some wayward spirits might target her son, she took him to Wat Beung Wang Nam Yen to see the abbot about performing a ceremony to ward off any potential misfortune.

The abbot, 56-year-old Luang Ta Yuan, told Mr Bunyang to go home and fast for two days without food or water, then come back for a ritual ceremony.

It gets worse… read the rest of the story here.

Something HEINOUS happened, I’m Just Not Sure What!

There was a very interesting article at the Pattaya Daily news but I’m not sure what exactly happened. Can someone read it, decipher it and let me know? A girl was in an accident, kidnapped, raped, in another accident - and at the police station for the 2nd accident when she suddenly revealed she’d been kidnapped? Is that it?

The story is a little less than fluid - >

Accidents in Thailand? Get Away from the Street!

I watched a youtube video of a traffic accident from Bangkok, Thailand not long ago.

Thailand Car Accident Video at Youtube - amazing footage…

Someone was filming the aftermath of an accident at night when there was another accident as someone ran directly into the pickup truck that was taking away the wrecked motorbike in the first accident. More people were hit (killed?) the vehicle hit hard and more people were needlessly hurt.

Yesterday I was riding the motorbike and saw a truck run up over the median, knock over a tree, and spin around to face oncoming traffic where another car hit it. The woman, her leg injured, got out of the truck and hobbled across the street to get help.

I sat and watched for a second from the side of the road away from the traffic that was building up. Many people were standing on the street to see it. Cars were slowing down… Then a huge double dumptruck came flying up the road - oblivious to what was going on - as they usually are. He beeped his horn as if he expected the stalled truck to get out of his way. He then ran directly into the truck, smashing the hell out of it and almost flipping it on it’s side. What was originally a couple thousand dollars in damage (usd) was now an absolutely totaled truck - $25,000 total loss.

Amazing drivers here in Thailand. Be careful, get AWAY from whatever accident you see because there may be another one shortly. If you’re too close - you might become part of it.

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