A very common practice amongst individuals of small business in the United Kingdom is when totalling up their daily takings from their business is to write on the banknote the total of the bundle.
Examples might well be 500, 800, 1000 written in bio, sometimes with a circle around it, in many cases the bank note has had other values written on it as well. It is unsure if bank cashiers might well do the same or are under clear instructions not to do so. Under normal conditions these marked notes circulate within the system without any real problem. In the United Kingdom it is not unusual to see damaged notes, sometimes torn on the corners bits missing, dirty and old, Some are even repaired with tape and these will be excepted by most establishments, if the bank note is complete with serial numbers at both ends.
Many people going on holiday to Thailand for short breaks or business might well dispense with the idea of taking travellers cheques and prefer to take sterling for exchange at a local bank. This now brings me to the point of this article, in Thailand bank notes carry the Kings head and shall we say ” treated with more respect” and to all Thai’s the idea of writing on or defacement of a bank note in any way is unthinkable.
When exchanging sterling at any bank in Thailand the bank notes will be first turned the correct way up before counting. The cashier will then subject each note to painstaking scrutiny and inspection. All damaged or marked notes however small will be removed and placed into another tidy pile and be rejected.
This is done before the serious business of checking each note under ultraviolet light, elecronic counting, weighing and rechecking by hand.
It might be surprising that out of a thousand pounds, almost 40% will be rejected for one reason or another. You may well believe the particular cashier is being overly zealous in their actions, and believe another bank or cashier will be more relaxed. This will not be the case, and you might well end up with 40% of your holiday money, and not being able to exchange it.
It is therefore essential only to take new bank notes to Thailand, when this is not possible then take only bank notes in pristine condition. At the very minimum examine every bank note yourself. Remember that any defacement or defect in its condtion, however small will not be excepted at banks in Thailand.
Another article by Bangkok Missy at http://www.bangkokmissy.com blogger and on the editorial team of many Thailand related websites