Plastic 50-baht bank notes to switch back to paper
 

Bangkok Post, Thailand

By Parista Yuthamanop

28.09.04

New paper 50-baht banknotes will be issued starting on Friday to replace the current polymer notes, the Bank of Thailand said yesterday.

Ithichai Chanthrindhu, senior director for the Note Issue Group, said the size and design of the paper banknotes would remain unchanged.

The paper banknotes would be easier to maintain than the polymer ones, whose colours tended to fade once folded. The central bank first introduced the polymer notes in 1996.

Authorities expect the new paper notes to fully replace the existing polymer notes in circulation over the next 18 to 24 months. A total of 144 million 50-baht notes are currently in circulation, out of 2.7 billion banknotes in total.

Mr Ithichai said the new paper notes would include special foil fibres as a fraud prevention measure, and carry a production cost of just 75 satang each compared to 1.65 baht per note for the polymer notes. He noted that a recent trend had seen counterfeiters shifting from 500-baht bank notes to 100 baht, due to the extensive amount in the market.

There are 650 million 100-baht notes and 200 million 500-baht notes circulating at present.

The central bank is stepping up efforts to detect bank note fraud, through co-operation with related agencies. Banknote fraud is especially prevalent in provinces along the country's borders, Mr Ithichai said.