Thai Baht (THB) Profile

Currency name
Currency code
Currency symbol

฿

Subunit
1/100 satang
Coins freq used
฿1, ฿2, ฿5, ฿10, 25 satang, 50 satang
Coins rarely used
1satang, 5satang, 10 satang
Banknotes freq used
฿20, ฿50, ฿100, ฿500, ฿1000
Banknotes rarely used
 
Central bank
Bank of Thailand ( www.bot.or.th)
Currency users
Currency user list

Thai baht users

The Thai baht is the currency of Thailand (officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam) which is a Southeast Asia country and locates at the center of the Indochina Peninsula.

The country’s official name was Siam before 1939 and later reused as Siam from 1945 to 1949. The name of Thailand was used from 1939 to 1945 and then from 1949 to present.

Thai baht history

The currently circulating Thai baht was introduced in 1897 with a subunit of satang (1 baht =100 satang). The first baht was used in Thailand was back to Sukhothai period (from 1238 to 1438) when a series coins of “phot duang” were used. They were pieces of solid silver cast to various weights. The Thai is one of them.

The Thai baht had been pegged to the British Pound until World War II. It was initially at 1 GBP = 21.75 THB from 1902 to 1908 and changed to 1 GBP =13 THB in 1908 and 1 GBP=12 THB from 1909 to 1923 when it was revised to 1 GBP =11 THB. During the World War II, the Thai baht was fixed with Japanese yen at par.

For decades since 1956, the Thai baht had been pegged to the U.S. dollar, initially at a rate of 1 USD =20.8 THB and was changed to 1 USD =20 THB in 1978. The pegging rate was 1 USD =25 THB from 1984 to 1997. The exchange rate of Thai baht and the U.S. dollar is 1 USD = 29.8402 THB as date of February 27, 2013.

Thai baht coins and banknotes

The Thai baht is subdivided into 100 satang.

Currently in circulation coins are in denominations of 25, 50 satang, 1, 2, 5, 10 baht and banknotes in denominations of 20, 50, 100, 500 1000 baht.