Britons arrested for passing forged money on Koh Phangan

An image shows the passports of the arrested men and forged 20-pound notes. (Photo by Suphapong Chaolan)

SURAT THANI – Four young Britons visiting the famous full moon party venue Koh Phangan have been arrested for passing forged pound banknotes and having a small amount of dried marijuana.

The police made the arrest at 1am Friday at a rented house in tambon Ban Tai after an investigation exposed the four men as the people spending the forged currency.

The police seized 96 fake £20 notes, which would be worth around 86,000 baht, and 2.11 grammes of dried marijuana.

Pol Col Somchai Noppasri, commander of Koh Phangan police, said the four men confessed that they had brought the forged currency with them from the UK to spend during the trip to Koh Phangan. They took turns changing £100 at a time into baht at a privately operated currency exchange on the island.

They were charged with owning and passing fake foreign currency and illegally possessing drugs.

The four men were named as: Adam Carter, 21 and three 23-year-olds: Thomas Moore, Luke Swainston-Thomas and Bradley Turner.