Bank of Thailand Deputy Governor Thong-urai Limpiti described the design of the new B20 banknote as “modern and universal” with the use of specialised technology to prevent counterfeiting.
The notes have also been designed with the visually-impaired in mind; the design includes two green flowers representing the number two in Braille characters, she said.
The new banknote – which has colours similar to the old notes – has a portrait of King Ramkhamhaeng of Sokhothai on the reverse “as a tribute to the great Siamese monarch”. King Ramkhamhaeng is credited with devising the original Thai alphabet.
The B20 note is one of the most common in circulation; Ms Thong-urai said that out of four billion banknotes in circulation, 1.4 billion are B20 notes.
The first batch of the new notes, 200 million of them, are being released today with the objective of substituting for old notes within a year.
A check this morning with banks in Phuket found that the new notes have yet to reach the island.
–MCOT Online