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The baht is the official money used in Thailand for buying and selling goods and services. It matters because it's essential for conducting everyday commerce and financial transactions throughout the country.
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The baht (/bɑːt/; Thai: บาท, pronounced [bàːt̚]; sign: ฿ or บ.; code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 satang (สตางค์, pronounced [sà.tāːŋ]; sign: st. or สต.). The currency was officially adopted during the Sukhothai period (1238-1438 CE) and continuously issued since. Initially issued in the podduang form, King Rama IV decided to switch to flat coins in 1860. The baht was then decimalised in 1897, before which the baht was divided into 8 fueang (เฟื้อง, pronounced [fɯá̯ŋ]), each into 8 at (อัฐ, pronounced [ʔàt̚]), and each into 100 bia (เบี้ย, pronounced [bîa]). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. SWIFT ranked the Thai baht as the 10th-most-frequently used world payment currency as of December 2023.
The baht was defined as 15.16 grams (0.4874 troy oz) of silver or gold, which was exchanged at 16:1 ratio. This was the case until the decree of June 29, 1874 which switched the Thai baht to the silver standard, and again in 1908, converting the baht to the gold standard before being completely debased in 1962 with the halt in production of the silver baht coin.