sorting your wallet

[mahjongguy]

Do you keep the Thai banknotes sorted in your wallet? Not to be obsessive-compulsive but to keep from handing someone a 500 when you meant only 100.

 

A friend who was visiting last week accidentally gave a cabbie 640 baht instead of 240, so I suggested that on his next trip he do the following:

instead of the natural order of 20-50-100-500-1000, he keep the bills sorted as 20-100-1000-500-50.

 

This gives the best color separation. If you're color blind, forget it and just stay sharp. 

 

[kokopelli]

I do try to sort but the notes still look the same to me maybe because of lighting conditions? No not color blind.

[baobao]

Do you keep the Thai banknotes sorted in your wallet? 

 

Yes, I do. I keep them in such a way (by type, folded in half with the fold facing up) that I can reach into the pocket where I keep them and by touch know if I'm pulling out two 20s, a hundred or a thousand. 50s and 500s are in a different spot as I don't use them nearly as often.  It saves me pulling my wallet out in full view. It's not foolproof - once in a hurry I handed a taxi driver a 500B bill for a 45B fare - but it made for a good story for me, and I'm sure a better one for him later on.

[Gaybutton]

I've always kept mine sorted, even when was living in the USA I always kept my money sorted. I'm even more compulsive about it than that - if the note corners have become folded, I straighten them.

 

A close friend had an experience similar to baobao's.  He took a 20 baht motorbike taxi ride.  It was after dark and he thought he had pulled a 20 baht note from his wallet and had given it to the taxi driver.  He didn't realize until the driver had sped away like greased lightning that it wasn't a 20 baht note.  It was a 1000 baht note!  Whoops!  Ever since he keeps his 1000 baht notes folded to make sure that little mistake won't be repeated.

[Bob]

I'm also anal enough to typically sort the bills in order of value but there are many times when you just don't have time at the moment to sit there and neatly arrange bills in your wallet (such as when you're paying at the grocery or 7/11 checkout and the 1000 people behind you really don't want to see some old codger fumbling around his wallet).

 

Even if you're an "arranger" or a "neat freak", why not occasionally use the one tool that god/buddha gave you - your friggin' eyesight!  And, if you can't easily read the numbers, you need to hire somebody to take care of you. 

[KhorTose]

Even if you're an "arranger" or a "neat freak", why not occasionally use the one tool that god/buddha gave you - your friggin' eyesight!  And, if you can't easily read the numbers, you need to hire somebody to take care of you. 

You sound a little harsh this morning Bob.  Until I got older, I always had better then normal eyesight, and even now it is still good.  Nevertheless, I have left a cab, been in a hurry, and done the same thing as the above posters where I gave a 500 thinking it was a 100 bill;.  Sometimes we just have other things on our mind and these bills do look very like each other at a glance.

[Guest fountainhall]

I'm an arranger! My wallet has two bill fold pockets. In the inner one I put 20s and 50s; in the outer one, 100s, 500s and 1,000s. If I'm going bar hopping without a wallet, I put a small wad of cash with 20s on the outside and notes getting higher in value near the centre. In another pocket, though, I keep some folded Bt. 100 bills for tips.

 

Just thank the Lord/Buddha or whoever that we do not live in a country like Turkey pre-its currency realignment. When $1 used to equal around 800,000 lire, counting all those 0s was a huge headache!

[firecat69]

Fountainhall, 

 

Speaking of Turkey.  I am visiting Istanbul for the first time in May.  Do you have a trip and photos to share , so I don't miss something special??

[ceejay]

I'm another organiser. Like Fountainhall, I have a 2 compartment wallet and use one for 500's and 1000's, one for the rest.

I keep a few 20's in a shirt pocket for baht bus fares.

If I'm going out withour a wallet, then I wear a shirt with 2 button down pockets, one for 500's and 1000's and one for the rest.

[Guest fountainhall]

Speaking of Turkey.  I am visiting Istanbul for the first time in May.  Do you have a trip and photos to share , so I don't miss something special??

 

I'm about to post some thoughts and pics in the Beer Bar which is more appropriate for this subject.

[Guest]

The difference between colours on Thai notes is not so clear, so it can be quite difficult to check them in a dark bar (for example). In daylight, it's OK.

Also the value isn't always immediately noticeable.

 

So I like to keep them sorted in order, in one compartment.

The currency of the country I'm in lives in one compartment and other currencies stay in another compartment.

[Guest fountainhall]

The difference between colours on Thai notes is not so clear, so it can be quite difficult to check them in a dark bar (for example

 

When did you last check US$ bills??  

[mahjongguy]

Yeah it's true that US currency is all green, but because of that the value appears in all four corners plus another larger spot.

 

Thai currency only has western numerals in the upper right corner.

 

My main problem is that I'm far-sighted but don't wear bifocals. 

[Guest]

When did you last check US$ bills??  

Whilst on holiday in Laos. The dollars were generally only used for larger expenses, so it was easy to manage.

My benchmark is the UK currency, which has 4 notes of different colour & size, with coins for everything up to £2 (THB 89).

[NIrishGuy]

I'm shocking for confusing money when in Thailand and I end up doing it several times on every trip no matter it seems how hard I try to ensure I don't.

 

I'm oh so careful before I head out so in my hotel room I'm a "sorter" - everything into it's 100's. 500's and 1000's, the 100's at the front, the 5's after that and the 1000's folded in half and placed to the rear and in a separate compartment - so simple, I mean what could POSSIBLY go wrong with that plan I hear you ask !

 

Well one word - actually no two - the one word was me and the other.....beer ! It all starts out swimmingly, then some bugger in a shop or bar or motorbike asks for an amount that doesn't EXACTLY correspond to the EXACT sum of notes and the denominations I have in my wallet ( how inconsiderate of them !) and BANG, thats the start of the end, through a few beers in there and few "sure I'll stick my change in my pocket just for now and sort it later" plus a few " God I can see damn all in this club" with a few I'm too lazies and don't want to look like an asshole standing counting loads of notes in front of the waiter and having to look at each one of them like some crazed mentalist magician so I'll just give him a 1000 and the next thing BANG lo and behold I have two pockets STUFFED to over flowing with notes and my wallet in tatters as I've been half shuffling through it half heartedly thinking I might actually keep it in SOME order for a while before giving up.

 

Actually that's one of the reasons I love being with a guy you know where you can give him a handful of 1000's before we head out and say " right you pay for everything all night and don't bother me about it" as a) you then have no bother with cash all night, B) half times he gets a better price than I do when going to pay somewhere, c) he spots the check bin scams and cons long before I even see them coming, he knows when to pay up front and NOT run tabs (* NAB for instance) or the EXACT opposite as no matter which route I take apparently it's the wrong one, then d) he LOVES the fact that he's the one being see to hold the money and is paying all night ( even though the world and his aunt knows where the money's REALLY coming from and finally e) as he know's full well you'll not ask him for the change later ( which if he's smart he'll offer back to you anyway only to be told to keep it of course like me knew all along) then he's in a great mood 24/7 and the sex is even better than normal !

 

So, actually taking all of the above into consideration maybe it's not such a bad thing I'm crap with money.

 

 

Mind you I do recall once trying to be REALLY careful not to lose money and on going into DJ station for one of my first trips there and seeing ( and reading about) the pick pocketing ( which actually I've never actually experienced in there) I thought I'd be uber careful and stuck maybe 8000 or 10000 down the inside of my sock for safe keeping ! ( ha they'll never think to look there me thought) and no, they didn't - and neither did I again until the next day where I'd clean forgetten I'd put it there and needless to say it had worked it's way out of my sock a LONG time before that so some Thai street cleaner must have thought that Christmas come early ! So, now I've given up and just resign myself to losing a few 1000 over every trip and not having to worry about the rest now is MUCH less stressful ! :-)

[Guest scottishguy]

...UK currency, which has 4 notes of different colour & size, with coins for everything up to £2 (THB 89).

 

Well, although I don't like to be picky (and I do appreciate the context of your post),  I do love the chance to point out that there is more to the UK than just England (and the BoE issued notes) - so, here goes........

 

There are actually 6 Banknotes currently in use in the UK  (£1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100) and there are coins in use for everything up to £5 (1p/2p/5p/10p/20p/50p/£1/£2/£5)

 

 

[NIrishGuy]

And woe betide you should you ever find yourself using an "Ulster Bank" £10 or £20 pound sterling note to try and pay for anything in London or half of England as they think you're from Mars and have just ran off a batch of £20's from your own printing press out in their car park or something ! :-(

[NIrishGuy]

Mind you ( and keeping on topic) with my being so disorganised I inevitably find some Northern Irish Sterling still lying about in my wallet when I'm in Bkk and to be fair THEY don't take it in the shops there either ! I think it's all one big conspiracy ! :-)

[Guest fountainhall]

I suspect SG was talking about the Scottish currency where something like 3 banks issue notes. Try getting them changed almost anywhere, and it won't be easy, although I have usually had no problem in London - London, England that is, not London Ontario, to say nothing of London Mpumalanga! 

[NIrishGuy]

Yes FH I'm fully aware he was - us poor Irish and Scots are in exactly the position re getting our bank notes accepted in England and Wales as it's always an uphill struggle.

 

Although ( and who says you don't learn anything on these boards ! :-) on checking a detail on wikipedia re this subject before I posted I've just found the following....

 

"Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are unusual, firstly because they are issued by retail banks, not central banks, and secondly, as they are not legal tender anywhere in the UK – not even in Scotland or Northern Ireland – they are in fact promissory notes. Seven retail banks have the authority of HM Treasury to issue sterling banknotes as currency. Despite this, the notes can be refused at the discretion of recipients in England and Wales, and are often not accepted by banks and exchange bureaus outside of the United Kingdom."

 

* Source "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_pound_sterling"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_pound_sterling

 

So there we have it, after all these years standing arguing in bars and chippy's in London at 2am that "they HAVE to take my money as it's all I've got and it IS legal tender for god sake, I mean LOOK it even says Sterling on it and EVERYTHING !" It turns out I've been wrong all along ! Oh well, you learn something new every day I guess ! :-)

[Guest scottishguy]

Actually, things are changing and you will increasingly find Scottish banknotes being accepted at major Bureaux De Change in Europe, although I wouldn't even think of trying in Thailand where a little mark or scribble on a BoE banknote is enough to see it refused, so no point proffering them something with the Forth Rail Bridge on it.

 

At AGP airport for example - the biggest Bureau de Change (next to the Irish theme bar!) beams the Saltire on to its screens every 20 seconds with the current exchange rate for Scottish banknotes - which is very marginally lower than BoE notes.

 

NIrish - you are correct in that Scottish Banknotes are technically not "legal tender" - but (in best Michael Caine accent) DO YOU KNOW ....that BoE notes are not "legal tender" in Scotland? The term  "legal tender" is virtually meaningless nowadays as the following quote from the Bank of England (founded by a Scot of course) indicates:

 

“The term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. Legal tender has a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he owes under the terms of a contract, he has good defence in law if he is subsequently sued for non-payment of the debt. In ordinary everyday transactions, the term ‘legal tender’ has very little practical application.”

[Guest]

Apologies. I should have written:

 

"My benchmark is the currency commonly used in Wales and England, which has 4 notes of different colour & size, with coins for everything up to £2 (THB 89).

 

Scotland has notes ranging from £1 to £100, which may be of different styles and issued by up to 3 different Scottish banks. Therefore, typically about 16 different notes will be in circulation in Scotland.

These notes are not legal tender in Wales & England, however they are frequently accepted.

However it is generally considered bad form to offer payment with Scottish notes & once the notes are paid into a bank, they are swiftly shipped back north of the border where they belong.

Hence the consumer is rarely troubled by such notes in Wales, or Southern England.

 

Northern Ireland has it's own notes. These are even rarer in Wales & England (I've never seen one)

 

In all cases, replacement note designs may temporarily increase the number of notes in circulation"

[NIrishGuy]

if you send me £20 of that English sterling you're talking about Z909 I'll be SURE to send you one of our fivers and tenners for you to keep so that you can have a good close up look - and I'm happy to do that just as many times as you'd like :=)

[Guest luvthai]

I carry a second wallet on my trips  (the main wallet with important items stays in the safe).  I carry this wallet in my front pocket but seldom pull it out in front of the boys.  I carry 20/50 baht notes in my shirt pocket 100 baht notes in my front left pants pocket 500 baht notes in my right back pocket and 1000 baht notes in my left back pocket.  In my wallet is back up money should i need it but even then i try to figure how much i woud need for the night plus a backup emergency folded away in one of the folds.   I have even carried a little in my sock in case of a theft.  I also wear only cheap watches and no jewelery.  I am always generous in my tipping maybe even too gemerous.  I don't give the boy money if one comes up and says he is hungry i walk with him to a food vendor and pay for what ever he wants. 

[Bob]

Luvthai, I can only say that you're taken it to a new art form!  But thank god/buddha that you do take the family jewels with you....