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COUNTERFEIT NOTES CIRCULATED IN SHA



COUNTERFEIT  NOTES CIRCULATED IN SHAN STATE

Thai-Burmese Border
Novermber 15, 1997

In June 1997, there were reports that authorities confiscated 700,000 kyat worth of counterfeit 500 kyat notes in Taunggyi. This followed the seizure of 15 million kyats worth of counterfeit money on October 19, 1997, in Muse on the Sino-Burma border, as 
well as many hundreds of thousands of counterfeit kyat in the golden triangle and along the Thai-Burma border. In Shan State there is widespread use of counterfeit 500 kyat notes by the local people.

On September 16, 1997, many shop keepers in Kunhein, eastern Shan State, found they had received wads of counterfeit 500 kyat notes with the Burmese letters ka-la and ka-najee and they surrendered the money to the police, according to a trader from Kynhei
n. 

The trader said that the quality of the counterfeit money is almost as good as the real thing and is much better quality than the counterfeit notes he had seen before. Previous counterfeit money had slightly different colour separation, no water mark and 
no security line. But the current counterfeit money is almost the same as real notes and even has what looks like a security line which on proper notes is made from a very thin piece of film. Because of the quality of the counterfeit notes, many people ar
e finding it difficult to distinguish them from real notes. 

It is not known how many counterfeit notes have been circulated in the central cities of Burma, but many have been found in Shan State, he added. In addition, many Burmese traders on the Thai-Burma border have been facing difficulties because Thai traders
 are refusing to accept 500 kyat notes with the Burmese letters Ka-Htawoonbei and Ka-Dayinkauk.


All Burma Students' Democratic Front