1953 Units of Thai money

[gwmss15]

I have noticed that on the scans used in the article 1953 in bangkok they seem to use a different name for the thai currency it shows tcs instead of baht for the price of many goods and survices back then.

Did thailand change its currency name in the 1950's if so was the exchange rate for this old currency

any ideas on this

[GWR]

This post should warm the cockles of Adam Smith's stingy killjoy heart.;)

I have noticed that on the scans used in the article 1953 in bangkok they seem to use a different name for the thai currency it shows tcs instead of baht for the price of many goods and survices back then.

Did thailand change its currency name in the 1950's if so was the exchange rate for this old currency

any ideas on this

'Er indoors says that a Tical was just an interchangeable term for a Baht at that time. I've included a more formal definition here:-

http://linkspider.serversystems.net/dictionary/lookup/tical

Tical

This is the definition of the term Tical
Tical (n.) A bean-shaped coin of Siam, worth about sixty cents; also, a weight equal to 236 grains troy.

Tical (n.) A money of account in China, reckoning at about $1.60; also, a weight of about four ounces avoirdupois.


On a slightly different note, I find it interesting that it is actually the more modern stores who prefer to handle 'Satang'. (100 Satang = 1 Baht. Satang come in denominations of 25 & 50). One supermarket near here used to give candy instead of Satang in change. A local busybody complained to the Trading Standards Office (Yes, it exists!), and they had to discontinue that form of change-giving. The rate of exchange was 2 Halls Mentholyptus to 50 Satang. Now they deal in nothing less than 1 Baht.

Some folk may not know that 25 Satang used to be called 1 Saleung. Apparently, this term was widely used in the market. But markets will no longer deal in anything less than a Baht. I once tried this term out on a supermarket checkout girl. She understood without batting an eyelid, so I guess folk still talk about Saleung.

[airlana]

The early Thai banknotes did in fact have the English the word "Tical" in their design.

See here (http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/airlana/100T.jpg) for an example of the 10 Tical note issued in 1902

The next series of notes issued in 1925 and subsequent issues have no English wording, but the denomination [eg. 10 or 100] is shown in both Arabic and Thai numerals.

Charles Stewart in his book "Thai Banknotes" 1985 gives some background to the use of Tical.

"On all Banknotes, the name of the currency in Thai is um(BAHT), the name it has always had. It is only in English that the word TICAL is used, the derivation of which word is much in dispute. At the present time the word TICAL has fallen into almost complete desuetude. One theory is that the word was brought over from Burma by British merchants of the 1860’s after the first BAHT coins were struck in B.E. 2403. In those days imported goods were paid for in Sterling, by those who had them, otherwise they were charged 8 BAHT weight in gold to £1 Sterling. The Burmese measure still in use today (1983) was
100 tical = 1 vis 3½ lbs.
1 tical = 14.1748 grams
the Thai 1 Baht gold weight = 15.244 grams"

Thai stamps also had the English word "Tical" as seen in these 2 examples (http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/airlana/tical.jpg), the 1905 Wat Jang issue and 1908 Jubilee issue.

airlana

[von Hirschhorn]

Buying a can tomato juice at a 7 Eleven store: baht 14.50, something I did many times. A load saleung coins I collected through the time.
Here in Holland we had 'cents' as well until we abandoned the little copper coins although not on paper. If something for example cost 63 or 64 cents,
you had to pay 65 and 61 or 62 only 60 cents. Than came the Euro and with it the cents were back - hurray for a heavy wallet. We were the first to skip them again and are now counting in the same manner as written above in stores and others alike.
As far as I remember the saleung in the past was devided in even smaller coins.

[qualtrough]

Re the earlier mention of saleung. A saleung is a quarter of a Baht, both the coin and the gold measurement. To say that someone is "Sam (3) saleung" is like saying in English that someone is not playing with a full deck, i.e. a bit nutty. I have also heard this conveyed as "My tem Baht", or not a full Baht.

Speaking of ticals, they have not quite disappeared. Although I cannot provide any examples at the moment, I still occasionally see products with Ticals or Tcs on them.

[The Enforcer!]

...and I suppose the exchange rate in the Land of Smiles is 4 Ticals to 1 Laugh?

The Enforcer!

[j.j. havellas]

is there a Thai equivalent to the English saying "here's my two cents"?

[jpatokal]

Here in Holland we had 'cents' as well until we abandoned the little copper coins although not on paper. If something for example cost 63 or 64 cents,
you had to pay 65 and 61 or 62 only 60 cents. Than came the Euro and with it the cents were back - hurray for a heavy wallet. We were the first to skip them again and are now counting in the same manner as written above in stores and others alike.
Objection! Finland beat Holland in getting rid of the 1, 2, 5 eurocent coins -- they were never even issued, except to collectors and such.

[kundepuu]

Objection! Finland beat Holland in getting rid of the 1, 2, 5 eurocent coins -- they were never even issued, except to collectors and such.

Surely we in Finland use 5 cent coins:)

[Ahoerstemeier]

Than came the Euro and with it the cents were back - hurray for a heavy wallet. We were the first to skip them again and are now counting in the same manner as written above in stores and others alike.

Not quite correct - in Finland the same was custom before the Euro, and they continued that one with the Euro directly. So thought there are finnish 1 or 2 cent coins, these are hardly ever found in circulation.

[von Hirschhorn]

O.K. no hard feeling, Finland beats us.
The 2 eurocent coins are still in circulation although hardly used since most prices are round of downwards or upwards. This measurement however we took to anticipate lines at the supermarket pay counter avoiding people (especially the old) searching for the right coins in their wallet.:rolleyes: