Celebration of Thai kings in new series of banknotes

“Typically, Bt50 banknotes are not used in banks’ automatic machines like ATMs or deposit machines. We will give them time to adjust these automatic machines to take other new, higher-value banknotes,” Prasarn Trairatvorakul, governor of the Bank of Thailand, said yesterday.

The new Series 16 consists of Bt20, Bt50, Bt100, Bt500 and Bt1,000 notes and retains the sizes and colours of the current Series 15, he said, adding that Series 15 and previous series remain legal tender.

Series 16 commemorates Thai kings of periods starting from Sukhothai to Rattanakosin. It incorporates the latest counterfeit-deterrent features to facilitate authentication both by banknote sorting machines and the general public, including the visually impaired.

Each denomination of the Series-16 banknotes will be issued separately and it could take several years for all releases.

The new Bt50 note could replace all of the 190 million old notes in use or more could be issued in response to growing popularity among the public and economic expansion.

Another reason for the new notes is to prevent counterfeiting, although the incidence is low. About one to two fake bills are found for every million notes, he added.

One of the new Bt50 note’s key features, which will be difficult to copy, is a watermark depicting the portrait of the present King, which appears alongside the denominational electrotype and is clearly visible when viewed against the light.

Another feature is the windowed security thread located vertically like stitches on the back of the note, which shifts colour from dark blue to red when the note is tilted. And the irregular shapes of the see-through register printed on both sides are combined to form the numeral “50” when the note is held up to the light.