Why are 50 and 500 baht currency notes used sparingly?

[watcharacters]

 

When I get change I find I'm likely to get  five 100 baht notes back rather that a 500 baht  note.

 

The same goes for the 50 baht note.    That will be represented by two 20's and a 10 baht coin.   

 

Maybe there's a simple answer for this but it escapes me.    It's nationwide.

 

To me it's just peculiar.    In the Philippines for instance the common thing with currency is to hear the merchant  honestly claim   they have no change.      I can guess that  there it's just a reflection of the general poverty in the country.

 

Is a THV member out there hoarding 50 and 500 baht notes?     

 

 

[pearciderman]

A simple Google search and you would have found your answer.

 

https://www.bot.or.th/English/Banknotes/Pages/banknoteinfo.aspx

[lopburi3]

Actually 500 baht used to be very common upcountry and what most ATM's stocked - not sure if still true or not but 1,000 much more common in cities.  The 50 baht has never been popular as too easy to mistake for a 20 baht and it a bit like the 2 dollar bill in USA - not really needed.

 

I suspect the PI issue has more to do with their banking system and need to have as little cash on hand as required more than the poverty issues. 

[NancyL]

13 minutes ago, pearciderman said:

A simple Google search and you would have found your answer.

 

https://www.bot.or.th/English/Banknotes/Pages/banknoteinfo.aspx

Interesting data.  I'd love to know what the "etc" notes are.  Never seen any in circulation.

[Dmaxdan]

17 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

Is a THV member out there hoarding 50 and 500 baht notes? 

Actually I do have one of each at the moment, although that may change later today. 

[pearciderman]

25 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

The 50 baht has never been popular as too easy to mistake for a 20 baht

 

They are different sizes and vastly different colours.

 

 

[LongTimeLurker]

1 hour ago, watcharacters said:

Is a THV member out there hoarding 50 and 500 baht notes?

Guilty to 50 Baht notes and 2 Baht coins

[lopburi3]

55 minutes ago, pearciderman said:

 

They are different sizes and vastly different colours.

 

 

It is really a bit hard to feel 1/4" (6mm) longer for most of us I suspect - and blue/green look very much the same under low light.  Then they had the plastic version that nobody wanted to touch.  

[KhunBENQ]

None of the explanations convinces me.

I can't see a logical reason why they don't use the 1,2,5,(10,20,50,100, 200, 500, 1000) principle like many currencies.

And why expect logic as long as they don't face the reality and introduce 2000 and 5000 Baht notes.

[KhunBENQ]

2 hours ago, pearciderman said:

A simple Google search and you would have found your answer.

 

https://www.bot.or.th/English/Banknotes/Pages/banknoteinfo.aspx

That explains the shortage but not the reason behind this policy.

 

[HooHaa]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

It is really a bit hard to feel 1/4" (6mm) longer for most of us I suspect - and blue/green look very much the same under low light.  Then they had the plastic version that nobody wanted to touch.  

no they do not look similar, and the size is appreciably smaller.

 

And i cant say i have noticed a dearth of either.

In fact a survey of the thai cash i have on hand,  includes 2 500 notes and 3 50's

Edited May 14, 2018 by HooHaa

[Bang Bang]

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

It is really a bit hard to feel 1/4" (6mm) longer for most of us I suspect - and blue/green look very much the same under low light.  Then they had the plastic version that nobody wanted to touch.  

Yep, I don't know how many taxi drivers I've "tipped" an additional 30b. late evening. And in the low light in clubs I need to look very carefully, given my lousy near vision, to distinguish between 100 and 500. 1000, 100 and 20, white, red and green works for me.

 

What they could do though is print an orange colored 900b. warning note which would sit in my wallet just before the 1000s for when I get "hansum man"ed on Sukhumvit at 2am after multiple beers.

Edited May 14, 2018 by Bang Bang

[seancbk]

I quite often get 500 baht notes out of KBank ATMs in Bangkok and quite often I'll get 50 baht notes in my change at MaxValue or 7/11.  

They aren't that uncommon.

[topt]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

t is really a bit hard to feel 1/4" (6mm) longer for most of us I suspect - and blue/green look very much the same under low light. 

Agree 100% - often given the wrong note unfortunately

 

1 hour ago, HooHaa said:

no they do not look similar, and the size is appreciably smaller.

In low light they do to me and at 3am in the morning the last thing I  am doing is measuring the size of a note in my wallet.....

[watcharacters]

4 hours ago, pearciderman said:

A simple Google search and you would have found your answer.

 

https://www.bot.or.th/English/Banknotes/Pages/banknoteinfo.aspx

 

 

Forgive me, Sir?

 

 

[HooHaa]

8 minutes ago, topt said:

Agree 100% - often given the wrong note unfortunately

 

In low light they do to me and at 3am in the morning the last thing I  am doing is measuring the size of a note in my wallet.....

one would hope neither of you lot ever visit the US. 

for your own sake of course.

 

[observer90210]

With all the welcoming types, who will try to cheat the expat or farang, I make it a point to never....never hand over a 500 THB or 1000 THB in a restaurant, small shop or when I have to pay a taxi who accepted the meter......etc  I just don't even want to give them the excuse to for the usual "solly - no change sir"...

 

...always have a good bunch of 100 THB's for daily use and the 1000 THB is only to be carried if you know your are going out  shopping for big expenses, going to a upscale restaurant or club  or to pay rent for the enjoyable afternoon cutie to come over by the pool,  and give you a good  manucure

[watcharacters]

1 minute ago, HooHaa said:

one would hope neither of you lot ever visit the US. 

for your own sake of course.

 

 

 

I was for decades disappointed that the USA currency was the same size and color for all denominations.

 

I'm guessing it has to do with the term "greenback" as  being  widely understood.

 

 

[55Jay]

12 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

I was for decades disappointed that the USA currency was the same size and color for all denominations.

 

I'm guessing it has to do with the term "greenback" as  being  widely understood.

 

 

Might be that it's more efficient and cost effective to keep it standard, also for fraud detection.

[topt]

23 minutes ago, HooHaa said:

one would hope neither of you lot ever visit the US. 

for your own sake of course.

 

Never seemed to have an issue with that - maybe because my eyes were younger.......... 

[arithai12]

4 hours ago, NancyL said:

Interesting data.  I'd love to know what the "etc" notes are.  Never seen any in circulation.

On the same site, there is  list of "commemorative" notes. I imagine that is what they refer to by "etc" or "others". As in other countries, they probably are legal tender but are meant mainly for collectors.

 

 

[arithai12]

5 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

The 50 baht has never been popular as too easy to mistake for a 20 baht

4 hours ago, pearciderman said:

 

They are different sizes and vastly different colours.

 

 

 

Your definition of vastly is vastly different from mine :-)

I do confuse them, as I do confuse 2 and 1 Baht coins (some 2B have a different color, but most differ only slightly in size).

[watcharacters]

13 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

Your definition of vastly is vastly different from mine :-)

I do confuse them, as I do confuse 2 and 1 Baht coins (some 2B have a different color, but most differ only slightly in size).

 

 

 It would be easier to have fewer notes with a larger denomination.

Shops and merchants just naturally gravitate to the 100THB notes and the 20's plus a ten baht coin.   

 

Not a concern really but again a sincere question.       

I have not looked at the one posters  google suggestion answer but I hope it's definitive.

 

On yes, on a country wide scale i guarantee it matters as to the amount of time it takes for a cashier to make change with the 100 and 20 baht bills.   That's a guarantee!

 

555

 

 

[quandow]

I just LOVE it when I hand a 20 baht note to a song tow driver and get ten one-baht coins in return. We ALWAYS exchange a glance where I let them know they are NOT going to be on my Christmas list.

Edited May 14, 2018 by quandow
Grammar

[55Jay]

Probably not a single reason or a universal, national motivation.  Small businesses seem to appreciate lower denominations for "small money" purchases.  Some guys I know get 1,000 from the ATM, then buy a pack of gum or smokes at 7-11 to break it down.    If I'm going out to the local pub, I might get 900 from the ATM to avoid hitting them with a 1,000 note for a couple of beers.

[alien365]

5 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said:

Guilty to 50 Baht notes and 2 Baht coins

I'm guilty too to 50s (I've got 200 so far this year) and 5baht coins (about 150of these)

[Lacessit]

I like to hoard the 500's and 50's, although I doubt that is affecting the overall stock of notes. Could be the supply of red and blue ink in Thailand is used up on the national flag instead.

[Mac98]

The blue ones are pretty and the women refuse to spend them? No, I'm not serious. Calm down.

[DiDiChok]

What I do every time I go to an ATM is to ask for ฿x,900 instead of a round ฿x,000 so that I get change.  For example, I ask for ฿2,900 and get 2 x ฿1,000, 1 x ฿500 & 4 x ฿100 so that I have plenty of change.  I have never understood why nobody else seems to do this because it seems so obvious to me.  If I find an ATM that has no thousands, I usually withdraw ฿10,000 to try to get hold of a stack of five hundreds.  As I mostly never carry much cash around in Thailand, I seem to visit the ATMs much more regularly than in Farangland and always seem to have change when others haven't.  I have noticed recently that whereas ATMs in Thailand used to have a limit of 20 notes when churning out cash, it seems to have been upped to 30 because I find that am now able ask for ฿19,900 and get it.

 

Following Government requests to the Banks in the UK, I'm finding that some ATMs there have now started handing out £5 notes in much the same way rather than just doling out £20 and £10 notes.  The downside is that most of it is now pieces of plastic covered in animal fat, but don't get me started on that one . . .

[smotherb]

8 hours ago, pearciderman said:

 

They are different sizes and vastly different colours.

 

 

Yeah, but the numbers are different. Of course, that's what I tell all the Eurps who claim the US notes are all the same color and size.

Edited May 14, 2018 by smotherb