Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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Just Look... Here!
A Quick Look at Thai Currency

Text: GM

If you’ve fallen into the error of thinking that Thai currency is just mere money, think again - and look at what’s below. The information you get here may make you examine all those coins and notes in your purses and wallets more carefully before parting with them.

The words ‘mother, mom, mum, momma and mama’ all mean a woman who has given birth, or who is a head of something. In Thai, the word covering all these variants is ‘mae’, which is widely compounded with other words to give different meanings. These compound words all refer in some way to a woman’s role and power in Thai - and Southeast Asian - culture.

This Just Look Here focuses on six Thai compound words preceded by the syllable mae.

1. Pod Duang

Pod Duang was the money used 600 years or more back, from the Sukhothai to the Ayutthaya Period. The individual pieces were also called “bullet coins”.

2. The one-baht coin (1974)

The one-baht coin (1974) is now invalid. The two sides of the coins are different, the obverse featuring H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej and its reverse the mythical Garuda, the personal symbol of the royal family.

3. Another one-baht coin (1977)

Another one-baht coin (1977), also now no longer in circulation, again has the King on the obverse side and the Supannahong Royal Barge, used in royal ceremonies on the river, on the reverse.

4. The fifty-satang coin (2008)

The fifty-satang coin (2008) is a currency unit equivalent to one-half of a Thai baht. Its reverse features Chiang Mai’s Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, the reliquary overlooking the city.

5. The ten-baht coin (1988)

The ten-baht coin (1988) again features H.M. King Bhumipol Adulyadej on its obverse side, and on the other Wat Arun Ratchawararam (The Temple of Dawn), as seen from the Chao Phraya River.

6. The fifty-baht banknote (2004)

The fifty-baht banknote (2004) features H.M. King Maha Mongkut (Rama IV), regarded as ‘King of Siam’s Eclipse’. He was given the name because he was able to predict a solar eclipse two years before it happened.

7. The one hundred-baht banknote (2005)

The one hundred-baht banknote (2005) shows H.M. King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who proclaimed the end of slavery in Siam some time before it was ended in parts of the West.

8. The one thousand-baht banknote (2005)

The one thousand-baht banknote (2005) has the present monarch on both side and commemorates his initiation of the ‘Self Sufficient Economic Project’ in Thailand.

If you are interested in coinage, The Bank of Thailand Museum, Northern Region Office, on the Chiang Mai-Fang Rd., opposite the Lanna King Rama IX Park, is recommended. It is open weekly from Monday - Friday (except on Bank holidays) from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. (closed at lunch time). Admission is free. Tel. 053-931 182-3.