At 10:45am, Phuket City police received a call from the Tongtip 2 gold shop on Phang Nga Rd stating that a customer had tried to buy gold using a counterfeit bank note. When police arrived at the shop, the shop owner and a 36-year-old Phuket man named as Veerachai Apicharttrakul were waiting for them.
The shop owner told police, “I suspected that one of the bank notes was fake so I checked it and found that it was. I refused to sell the gold to Mr Veerachai and called the police.”
When questioned by police, Mr Veerachai, who is the son of the President of Rassada District Council, Peerapong Pisitkunanon, said that he and his daughter went to the Kasikorn Thai Kwandindang Branch on Tepkassattri Rd today and withdrew B200,000.
“We came to the gold shop after we got the cash to buy gold jewellery.” said Veerachai.
“I have just come from the bank,” he insisted.
Mr Veerachai then took police to the Kasikorn branch where he withdrew the money. The assistant manager there, Nitnapa Klongjit, confirmed to police that Mr Veerachai withdrew B200,000 from the bank this morning.
He told police that it was possible that a clerk was given the counterfeit note by another customer and passed it on to Mr.Veerachai without checking.
Police let Mr Veerachai go without any charge and will investigate to try to find the source of the counterfeit note.