LACK OF confidence in 1000 baht banknotes has led to many people on Phuket trying to avoid accepting them in financial transactions, a survey by Phuketwan has found.

Officials at the island's Provincial Hall government centre this afternoon reported counterfeit notes had been passed in Patong.

The discovery of fake 1000 baht notes in Phuket and Bangkok has triggered concern among local businesspeople especially.

A vendor, for example, will say they do not have change when a 1000 baht note is tendered in payment. Some have even posted notices saying that they will not accept 1000 baht notes.

Figures provided by Bank of Thailand, the national reserve bank, say that from January to November, a total of 18,895 counterfeit notes of all denominations were discovered.

Most of these, 61 percent or a total 11,158, were 1000 baht fakes.

A deputy manager at the Phuket branch of the Bangkok Bank said they had discovered no counterfeit notes, but customers were often reluctant to accept 1000 baht notes.

So they settled instead for much larger bundles of notes of lesser denominations, he said.

If the bank discovered a fake note in dealing with a depositor, they would ask for the counterfeit and mark it clearly as such, he said.

But if the customer wished to keep the fake note, the bank would mark it and return it.

A deputy manager at the Kasikorn Bank said they had found no fake notes. She said staff were counting 1000 baht notes by hand because the fakes could usually feel the difference.

Counterfeits would be marked if found and possibly put on public display, she said.

A manager at the Thai Savings Bank said no counterfeit notes had been found but customers were sometimes not happy to take 1000 baht notes.

There were two legal varieties, and some customers would not accept particular notes. Some were even demanding written guarantees, carrying the bank's stamp, that the notes were genuine.

Many shops, the customers told the banks, would not accept 1000 baht notes.

Her staff had been warned to check notes carefully, first by machine and then by sight under a ''black light'' that exposes the watermarked face of HM the King on one side.

Then the staff would count the notes by hand, which usually enabled them to feel a fake.

A Siam Commercial Bank manager said they had not found any fakes and customers could rely on 1000 baht notes from the banks.

Concern about the fake banknotes on Phuket grew more intense after reports in the media that two men had been arrested in Thalang for passing fake 1000 baht notes in paying bills at restaurants.

Supermarket Tesco Lotus was continuing to accept 1000 baht banknotes and had found no fakes up to and including December 25.

Four machines for checking all 1000 baht notes had been installed.

Big C also was still accepting 1000 baht notes and giving staff special training.

On a 1000 baht note, there were ways of spotting the genuine ones.

..The color of the 1000. On a real note, the figure 1000 is gold at the top and green in the lower half. Turn it sideways, and it goes green.

..The silver foil strip on genuine notes includes the small figure 1000 going crossways about every centimetre.

..The watermark of the face of HM The King is clearly outlined in genuine notes.

..Fake notes mostly start with 9A 650XXXX or 2D 150XXXX.

The penalty for making fake banknotes can be as high as 15 years' jail, plus a fine.

Anyone encountering fake notes is advised to call the Treasury of Phuket office during business hours on 076 212215.