Experience on polymer commemorative note in Thailand

 

 

Presented by Mr Chumpol Santipong

Director, Note Printing Works, Bank of Thailand

1996 Currency Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 14.10.96 to 16.10.96
 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

First of all I would like to thank Mr. Bruno Garoffolo to give me this opportunity to share our experience on polymer commemorative note in Thailand. And I would like also to express my heartfelt thanks to all staff of Note Printing Australia for their best cooperation in making this commemorative note a proudest currency note ever for our both institutes, especially for the Thais.

 

Background

 

June 9, 1996 marks the 50th Anniversary of His Majesty the King 's Accession to the Throne. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the Ninth King of the Chakri Dynasty of Thailand, is our most beloved King and the longest-reigning living monarch. To mark this auspicious occasion, Golden Jubilee celebrations are held throughout the country started from the beginning of this year, 1996.

 

The Special Commemorative Note Printing Project is part of the Bank of Thailand's efforts to join the whole nation in celebrating the greatest and unique occasion of its kind in the country's history and to present our gratitude to our King.

 

This project has been initiated since 1993 by our governor, Mr. Rerngchai Marakanond, to issue a commemorative note which can define this nation's important occasion and which is different. Finally, we decided to issue 500 Baht Commemorative Note that has different and impressive appearance from the circulating one. The reason why we have chosen 500 Baht denomination is that we intend to incorporate some special devices, for example, gold colour OVD, to make the note more interesting and still having number 5 0 to underscore the significance of His Majesty's reign.

 

Another supporting reason in choosing polymer note is that I would like my staff to explore and experience this new technology.

 

Design

 

The black & white and colour design were firstly created by our designer and finalised by NPA's designer, which turned out to be an impressive one as shown here.

 

The meaningful design of the Special Commemorative Note is to proclaim His Majesty's charisma as well as efforts in improving the citizens' living conditions.

 

Even the numerals selected of this special commemorative note have meaning, for example:

  • The first two digits of the Note's serial number is "50", underscoring the significance of His Majesty's reign.

  • And the following five digits start with number "9" to give significance to His Majesty as King Rama IX.

Packaging

 

The Special Commemorative Notes are contained in three exclusively designed packages.

  • Mudmee Silk Album. Every note is packaged in this silk album which has intricate weaving works by various rural villagers working for the Support Foundation under the royal patronage of Her Majesty the Queen.

  • Crystal Frame for special numbers like 91 111, 92 222 up to 98 888.

  • Exclusive Crystal Frame for only 100 notes with number 99 999, 7 sets of which will be presented to His Majesty the King and Family, 80 sets are for auction, and the rest are for Museum.

Pricing

 

Face value is about 20 US dollars, but it will be sold from about 44 US dollars up to a set of 20,000 US dollars or more.

 

Promotion Campaign

 

We didn't do much on promotion campaign, because we are afraid that it would increase more demand, which is quite strange, isn't it, for business.

 

However, after official press release, the interest on this commemorative note was so high that we decided to increase the additional order from 500,000 notes to 1 million. The notes sold at the commercial banks were sold out within half a day or less.

 

Even those special serial numbers, with a higher price, sold at our central bank two weeks later, almost agitated a riot.

 

After that, the demand was still going on and we had been requested to place more order. But our decision was to issue special 50 Baht Commemorative Note on polymer in December 1996 and in the year of golden jubilee, which will fulfil our three objectives:

  • We will issue 50 million special 50 Baht Commemorative Notes and sell at face value, which we expect that it should be enough for almost everyone to keep it as a souvenir.

  • It will be a chance for us to gather the information on the response of the public on polymer note and its use in circulation.

  • We add some improvement on the existing 50 Baht design and colour to make this note more vivid and thus attractive, which should help increase the popularity of this denomination.

Our experience on the 500 Baht Polymer Commemorative Note to celebrate the auspicious occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of His Majesty's Accession to the Throne turned out to be a successful project. We expect to raise up to around twenty million US dollars to present to His Majesty the King as a budget for His Majesty's Royal Projects.

 

The main reason behind this success is neither the design nor the special characteristics of the note itself; it's because the Thai love their King Bhumibol so much that whatever related to His Majesty would be overwhelmingly supported.

 

In this mean time, the success of 50 Baht Commemorative Note as well as the future of polymer banknote production in Thailand are what we have to watch closely. Thank you.