Thailand: Series 16 Banknotes

Bank of Thailand issued the series 16 50 Baht banknote on 18th January 2012. The remaining denominations are expected to be issued as stated below:

1. 20 Baht - 5 December 2012

2. 100 Baht - 2013

3. 500 Baht - 2013

4. 1000 Baht - 2013


Two commemorative banknotes will be issued in 2012:

1. 100 Baht commemorating 60th birthday of HRH Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn - obverse will be same as present series 15 100 Baht banknote but reverse will be changed.

2. 80 Baht commemorating 80th birthday of HM Queen Sirikit - design is not known. Initial reports say that it will be sold at 200 Baht each.

Updates on series 16 and commemorative notes will be posted in due time.

Thailand: 100th Anniversary Fine Arts Department coin

On 1st March 2012, the Treasury department of Thailand have issued a bimetallic 10 Baht coin to commemorate 100 years of "Fine Arts Department" or กรมศิลปากร which was established on 27 March 1911.

Coin details:

10 Baht: Bimetallic, 8.5g, 26mm, Mintage 2 million coins

Thailand: 500 and 1000 Baht Series 15 new signature variety

500 Baht (P 107) and 1000 Baht (P 115) notes from series 15 are now issued with the signatures of Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala as Finance Minister and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor of BOT. Note that signature Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul (Governor of BOT) has been modified for Thai banknotes of Series 15 since January 2012.

Thailand: Signature of Governor of BOT modified

Note that signature Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul (Governor of BOT) has been modified for Thai banknotes of Series 15 since January 2012. It is not a new signature variety.

Thailand: 100 Baht banknote Series 15 - new signature variety

P114 100 Baht note with sig 83

100 Baht notes from series 15 are now issued with the signatures of Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala as Finance Minister and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor of BOT.

Thailand: 20 Baht banknote Series 15 - new signature variety

P109 20 Baht note with sig 83

Thailand's Series 15 banknotes are going to be soon replaced by the new Series 16 on 18th January 2012 starting with the 50 Baht note. However, Series 15 notes are still being printed with the signatures of Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala who recently took over as Finance Minister and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor of BOT.

Thailand: Series 16 Banknotes to be issued on 18th January 2012

50 Baht obverse with sig 83

On 12th January 2012, Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of Bank of Thailand announced that the long awaited series 16 banknotes will be issued on 18th January. The first banknote of this series to be issued will be the least used 50 Baht followed by the most widely used 20 and 100 Baht notes. The 500 and 1000 Baht notes will follow later during the year.

Press release of BOT on 12th January 2012.

Thailand: King's 7th cycle birthday commemorative banknote

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand will turn 84 (7th cycle) on 5th December 2011. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, Bank of Thailand (BOT) has announced a commemorative 100 Baht banknote.

HM King is also referred to as King Rama 9 as he is the 9th King of the Chakri dynasty. A total of 9,999,999 notes will be available on 2nd December and will be sold at 200 Baht each.

The size of the banknote will be 162 x 84mm to reflect 1+6+2="9" and "84" years.

The serial number will begin with 9 K / 9 ธ ("K" and "ธ" stands for "King/พระมหากษัตริย์")

Thailand: 500Baht with sig 82

All denominations, except 50Baht, of Series 15 banknotes now carry signatures (sig 82) of - Korn Chatikavanij (ex-Finance Minister) and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor BOT.




500Baht - P107 sig 82
Image from ebay

It is also reported that the first denomination for Series 16 banknotes will be 50Baht with sig 83 - newly appointed Finance Minister, Mr. Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul (Governor BOT). This needs to be seen as it has always been the most widely used 20Baht and 100baht notes which are issued first.

Thailand: King Bhumibol's 7th Cycle birthday coins

His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand will turn 84 on 5th December 2011. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, the Thai Treasury will issue a set of commemorative coins in the denominations of 50 Baht, 800 Baht and 16,000 Baht. This coins can now be booked at the Treasury and will be available later during the year.

Expect a commemorative banknote as well. Whether this will coincide with the issuing of the new 16th series banknotes or not is still not clear.

Thailand: Banknotes with new signature variety

In October 2010, Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul took over the post of Governor of Bank of Thailand from Ms. Tarisa Watanagase. Banknotes with denominations 20Baht and 100Baht were issued end of January this year with new signature variety sig 82 - Korn Chatikavanij as Finance Minister and Dr. Prasarn Trairatvorakul as Governor BOT. 1000Baht banknotes with this new signature variety is now issued.




P109 - 20Baht; P114 - 100Baht; P115 - 1000Baht

With the new elections approaching there is always of a chance of getting a new Finance Minister. This would mean another new signature variety.

Series 16 banknotes are not expected within this year.

Thailand: New commemorative coins

On 18th May 2011, the Treasury department of Thailand will issue two new coins - a bimetallic 10 Baht coin commemorating 120 years of the Comptroller General’s Department and a Cupro-nickel 20 Baht coin commemorating 100 years of Vajiravudh College. Images courtesy of Treasury Department.



10 Baht: Bimetallic, 8.5g, 26mm, 1mil coins


20 Baht: Cupro-Nickel, 15g, 32mm, 0.5mil coins

Thailand: New Bimetallic commemorative coin issued

The Treasury department of Thailand have issued a bimetallic 10 Baht coin to commemorate 60 years of "Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board" or NESDB. Established in 1950, NESDB is a key agency on planning and formulation of development strategies here in Thailand.



Coin details:

10 Baht: Bimetallic, 8.5g, 26mm

Thailand: 2 new commemorative coins issued

The Treasury department of Thailand today issued two commemorative coins.


"Father of Thai Trade title given to HM King Rama 3"

Coin details:
20 Baht: Cupro-Nickel, 15g, 32mm, 300k coins



"150 years of Royal Thai Mint"

Coin details:
50 Baht: Cupro-Nickel, 21g, 36mm, 150k coins

Thailand: Unlisted and Unissued 500 Baht banknote

On 25th September 2010, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) had organised Thai Banknote Expo, a two day event to let public know more about history of Thai banknotes, identification of counterfeits, taking care of banknotes, etc. Extremely rare banknotes right from the 1st series to unissued varieties were on display following the theme "Best of Thai Banknotes".

One of the rarest banknote, a Series 1 50 Tical overprinted note, can be seen at Thailand: One of the rarest Thai Banknote.

Another very rare banknote, an overprinted 500 Baht from Series 5, is not even listed in any catalogs or internet sources. During the 2nd World War, Thailand was occupied by the Japanese invasion forces and all banknotes were printed in Japan. However, since these Japanese printed banknotes could not be delivered on time, many special issues were printed locally. Quality was poor and counterfeits were rampant. To take care of banknote shotages, uncirculated 1000 Baht banknotes were overprinted as 500 Baht. However, these notes were never ever issued and are extremely rare.


Overprinted 500 Baht Banknote

Overprinted 500 Baht Banknote detail in Thai

Thailand: One of the rarest Thai Banknote

On 25th September 2010, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) had organised Thai Banknote Expo, a two day event to let public know more about history of Thai banknotes, identification of counterfeits, taking care of banknotes, etc. Extremely rare banknotes right from the 1st series to unissued varieties were on display following the theme "Best of Thai Banknotes". One such banknote was the Series 1 50 Tical overprinted note which is considered to be the rarest of all overprinted Thai banknotes. Uniface Series 1 banknotes were printed in England by Thomas de la Rue. At the end of World War I, banknotes could not be delivered to Siam and in 1918 (B.E. 2461), unissued 1 Tical banknotes were overprinted and issued as 50 Ticals.



Overprinted 50 Tical Banknote


Detail in Thai

Thailand: New Commemorative coins issued

The Treasury department of Thailand will issue coins commemorating the 84th (7th cycle) birthday of HRH Princess Bejaratana Rajasuda Sirisobhabannavadihad (pronounced as Petcharat) on 1st November 2010. She is the only child of King Rama VI, the 6th King of the ruling Chakri dynasty. She was only 1 day old when her father passed away in 1925. She actually will be turning 85 years old this coming 24th November.



Coin details:
10 Baht: Bi-metallic, 8.5g, 26mm
20 Baht: Cupro-Nickel, 15g, 32mm
800 Baht: 92.5% Silver, 22g, 35mm

Thailand: Thai Banknote Expo 25-26 Sept 2010

Bank of Thailand (BOT) has organised "Thai Banknote Expo", a two day event to let public know more about history of Thai banknotes, identification of counterfeits, taking care of banknotes, etc. Commemorative banknotes issued during the last 10 years are also on sale. Public can exchange soiled banknotes as well.

On 26th there will be 300 lots of banknotes for auction. The lots are mainly made up of specimen notes and banknotes having solid serial numbers.

Many banknotes are on display following the theme "Best of Thai banknotes". Extremely rare banknotes right from the 1st series to unissued varieties are on display. The unissued notes and provisional issues are just awesome. I did not even know that some of these banknotes ever existed. They have not been reported in catalogues or numismatic websites. I will cover them next week.

Overall the expo was small but very informative. Below images show the atmosphere inside the expo.


Entrance to Thai Banknote Expo

Banknote displays
Famous Thai TV personalities Paul-Pattarapol and Pui-Pimonwal were MC's
People queuing up for commemoratives
BOT official explaining printing process


Banknotes on display

Thailand to get new series of circulating banknotes

On 27th July, Ms. Chittima Duriyaprapan, Assistant Governor - Banknote Management Group of the Bank of Thailand (BOT) announced that the BOT board has approved issuing of Series 16 banknotes with newer counterfeit protection features. Design for the new 20, 50, 100, 500 and 1000 Baht notes are awaiting approval from the Royal Household Bureau. This new series of circulating banknotes, expected to come out towards the end of this year, will replace Series 15 which has been in use for the past 12 years.

However, the current series of banknotes will carry a new signature variety starting October till the new series are issued. (BOT gets new governor)



ธปท.เตรียมออกธนบัตรใหม่หมุนเวียนใช้สิ้นปีนี้

คณะกรรมการธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย (ธปท.) มีมติให้จัดทำธนบัตรรูปแบบใหม่ ภายใต้ชื่อชุดที่ 16 หลังจากที่ธนบัตรปัจจุบันชุดที่ 15 นั้น ใช้มาเป็นเวลา 12 ปีแล้ว จะมีการเปลี่ยนธนบัตรทุกชนิด ตั้งแต่ 20 50 100 500 และ 1,000 บาท รูปแบบที่เปลี่บนแปลงไปจะใช้เทคโนโลยีทันสมัย และมีการใส่สิ่งต่อต้านการปลอมแปลงธนบัตรเพิ่มขึ้นด้วย ขณะนี้รูปแบบของธนบัตรรูปแบบใหม่ อยู่ระหว่างการขออนุญาตจากสำนักพระราชวัง คาดว่าจะเริ่มทยอยนำออกมาใช้ได้หลังวันที่ 5 ธันวาคมนี้ และจะนำออกมาใช้หมุนเวียนในปีต่อไปด้วย

ด้าน นางจิตติมา ดุริยะประพันธ์ ผู้ช่วยผู้ว่าการธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย กล่าวว่า จากการติดตามสถิติของการระบาดธนบัตรปลอม ในช่วงครึ่งแรกของปีนี้ ปรากฏว่าลดลงจากปีที่ผ่านมา 39 เปอร์เซ็นต์ ครึ่งหนึ่งของธนบัตรปลอมนั้นกระจุกตัวอยู่ในภาคกลาง เช่น พัทยา อยุธยา กำแพงเพชร เนื่องจากปริมาณเงินที่หมุนเวียนในภาคกลางมีมากกว่าภาคอื่น ซึ่ง ธปท.ประสานกับเจ้าหน้าที่ตำรวจ เพื่อขยายผลหาแหล่งผลิตต่อไปแล้ว


Further reading:
BOT Announcement on Channel 7 News (in Thai)

The Nation (English)

Thailand: WIPO Award Commemorative coins issued

"World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Leader Award to HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej" commemorative coins will be issued on 2nd August. These coins were announced way back in December 2009 and the designs were released in May this year.



Coin details:




Previous posts:
http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2010/05/thailand-updates-on-commemorative-coins.html

http://numis-asia.blogspot.com/2009/12/thailand-new-commemorative-coins.html