RickArmstrong

I was in a busy suburban Thai shopping mall at the weekend and was passing by a promotion stand for a well-known computer printer brand, when something purple caught my eye. There were several 500 baht bank notes, positioned beside each of the latest inket printers on display. Hundreds of people were passing by or milling around the computer tables, yet the staff were not concerned that somebody would try to snatch the cash...and nobody did. Now curious, I walked over for a further inspection of these "bank notes" and the salesgirl with the beaming smile proudly invited me to take a closer look at them. They were were fake of course, produced on the spot with the company's latest state-of-the-art printers for the home market. Imagine this high-profile brand's staff doing that with dollar bills at a shopping mall Stateside or cranking out some British pounds in a London High Street store. The counterfeits were good, real good, and those produced on the high end printers were almost perfect. In fact, unless you inspected the notes carefully in a strong light, you might easily be fooled. Exactly what could happen with change given from a 1,000 baht note at a dark nightspot after a few drinks. So, if you are going out partying at night in Pattaya, why not change some of your 1,000 baht notes into 500 baht notes first? But make sure it's at your bank, hotel or a reliable source you can trust. Rick Armstrong http://www.thailandtips.com