What is the Currency of Thailand?
What is the Currency of Thailand? Is is the Baht.
This Thai Money guide is designed for the first time traveler that would like to know what the currency looks like and get familiar with it before visiting Thailand.
There will also be examples of what you can expect to purchase for each amount of money.
Today in modern Thailand there are 11 denominations in the currency. 6 Coins and 5 paper notes. The name of Thai currency is Baht sometimes spelt Baht and even Bath. The 1 Thai Baht coin is made up of 100 Satang.
So just like it takes 100 cents to make up a dollar, it takes 100 Satang to make up ฿1 Baht.
Thai Baht Notes and Coins
Coins:
- 25 Satang
- 50 Satang
- ฿1 Baht
- ฿2 Baht
- ฿5 Baht
- ฿10 Baht
Notes:
- ฿1000 Baht
- ฿500 Baht
- ฿100 Baht
- ฿50 Baht
- ฿20 Baht
25 and 50 Satang, Thai Baht Coins.
The smallest denomination. These small copper coins are about the most useless you will come across. Thankfully they are rather rare. The only place that comes to mind would be at 7 eleven. When buying a small flavored milk the price is something like ฿12.75 Baht.
Most of the time they will not even have coin available. But if you really want to see it in real life you can head down to 7 eleven and pick up a small flavored milk.
It is recommended to rid yourself of these as soon as possible, they just weigh you down and will never actually help you towards a purchase. Give it to a homeless person, drop it in a donation box. You do not want these things accumulating, they are mostly a dead weight. You would require 120 of theses small coins to make up just $1! It is just not worth your time so be sure to get rid of it ASAP.
1 and 2 Baht Coins.
. You would require around 30 of these small silvery coins to make up $1.
They are both small, the ฿1 Baht is silver and the ฿2 Baht is gold.
Just like the even smaller Satang coins mentioned above. These are very low value and you do not want them accumulating and weighing you down.
However 1 Baht is where you can actually buy yourself something of use. You will probably never see anything for sale for 1 Baht such as food, clothing etc.
Below are a couple of examples that cost between 1 and 4 Baht.
What Can You Get for ฿1-4 Baht?
- use the bathroom
- Hand full of toilet paper at the bathroom
- Candy
- An Egg
- A Cookie
Don’t expect to get much for 1 Baht it is probably the equivalent of of 50 cents back home.
5 Baht Coin:
Ok now were are beginning to become useful. You need about 6 of these to make up $1 and it would be a rough approximation of around $2 – $3 back home.
The 5 Baht coin is slightly larger that the ฿2 Baht coin and is silver in color.
The most distinct physical feature of this coin is it is not a smooth round circumference.
Unlike all the other Thai coins the ฿5 Baht has 9 edges. Something similar to the Australian 50 cent piece only a lot smaller.
What can you get for 5 Baht?
- Small bottle of water at 7 eleven
- A side of sticky rice from a street food vendor
- Skewer of meat on a stick from a street vendor (cooked)
- Vegetables (If in a non touristy small town)
10 Baht Coin:
This is the largest coin denomination and these are the coins you will want to hold onto most.
Around 3 of these are needed to make up $1. ฿10 Baht is probably the equivalent of $4 – $6 back home. They are very easy to identify as they are the only Thai Baht coin that is gold and silver in color. The outside is silver and the inner circle is gold.
The ฿10 Baht coin is very useful in Thailand and you can buy a great deal of food and services with it
What can you buy for 10 Baht?
- Medium bottle of water in 7 eleven
- Bag of fresh cut of fresh fruit
- Small bottle of milk at 7 eleven
20 Baht Note:
So this is the smallest denomination of that Thai baht notes. They are easy to identify by the color just look out for the green one. You will need roughly 1 and a half of these to make up $1. This is very roughly equivalent to around $7 back home.
What can you get for ฿20 Baht?
- Short Motorbike Taxi ride.
฿50 Baht Note:
These Thai bank notes are fairly rare in comparison to the ฿20 or ฿100. They are quickly identified by the blue color.
Each of these makes up approximately $1.50. 50 Thai Baht is roughly equivalent to about $15 back home.
What can you buy in Thailand for 50 Baht?
฿100 Baht Note:
This is worth around $3.30 – $3.50 and is equivalent to about $30 back home.
They are easy to spot due to the pinky red color.
What Can you buy for ฿100 Thai Baht?
฿500 Baht Note:
This is around $15-20 and is roughly equivalent to $80-$100 back home.
What can you get for ฿500 Thai Baht?
- One night stay in a 2 star hotel in a touristy area.
- Rent a motorbike to 1 day (฿150-250)
1000 Baht Note:
This note can be identified by its brown color. ฿1000 Baht is around $30-40. This is roughly equivalent to around $200 back home, meaning what you can buy for $200 back home you can have in Thailand for about $30.
What can you buy with ฿1000 Thai Baht?
- One way taxi ride from Bangkok to Pattaya
- One night Stay in a 3 star hotel in a touristy area
Common Thai Baht Questions Answered.
What is the Thai Bhat Currency Code?
Where Can I Get Thai Bhat?
At a currency exchange shop, you can find them at the airport or scattered around the city. You can also buy Thai Baht at the bank.
Where is the Best Place to get Thai Baht?
The best place to get Thai Baht is generally at and exchange far away from a touristy areas. If you can help it do not exchange your money at the airport as they always have the worst rates available. To get the best deal on you exchange its best to exchange for cash. Some exchanges also offer a better exchange rate for a bigger foreign currency note. For example a $100 USD exchanges for a better rate than a $20 USD.
What are the Thai Baht Note Denominations?
฿20, ฿50, ฿100, ฿500 and ฿1000
What is the price of the Thai Baht?
It is always changing with the exchange rate. Historically however you can average it out and use that number as a guide. Most travelers work on the number 30. 1 dollar is equal to ฿30 Thai Baht.
What is the best way to travel with money in Thailand?
If you want the best bank for buck, the best deals then it is cash. If you are more concerned with security then an ATM/credit card is the way to go. There are also Travel money cards available specifically for this purpose.
Keep in mind that would will pay more. There is a withdrawal fee, a currency conversion fee etc. Some cards even charge a percentage of the money loaded onto the card as an additional fee on top.
Taking cash to Thailand
Is not a problem as long as it is under $10,000 USD. If it is over this amount they are expecting you to declare it.
What is best way to take Currency to Thailand?
- Cash if you want to get the most value form the exchange.
- Card if you want the most security
Hope you have found this Thai currency guide useful. If something remains unanswered, leave a comment below and we will get on it.
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