Shop owners in Ban Khwao district have complained to police after discovering they were being paid for goods with counterfeit 1,000-baht notes.

Daoruang Khongnok, 46, who owns the Naron mini-mart at Moo 5 village in tambon Wang Kum, said that at about 2pm on Tuesday a procession going to a temple for an ordination ceremony passed by her shop and many people stopped to buy things.

That evening she went to a wholesaler to buy goods to restock her shop. When she returned to her shop, the wholesaler called and said there were three counterfeit 1,000-baht notes among money she had used to pay for the goods.

She went back to the wholesaler and saw that the three banknotes all had the same serial number: 3G7003970.

Returning to her shop once more, Ms Daoruang found another fake 1,000 baht note.

She later learned that three other fake 1,000-baht notes had been used at two other shops.

The shop owners filed a police complaint.

Pol Col Anupap Phiew-on, the Ban Khwao police chief, said a total of seven fake 1,000-baht notes with the same serial number were found at the village. Police were examining security camera recordings to find out who spent the counterfeit notes.