What banknotes and coins does Thailand use?

Thailand circulates five banknotes, ฿20 (green), ฿50 (blue), ฿100 (red), ฿500 (purple) and ฿1,000 (grey), and six coins you'll realistically handle: 25 satang, 50 satang, ฿1, ฿2, ฿5 and ฿10 (100 satang = ฿1). At ฿33 = US$1 (July 2026), that runs from under one US cent for the smallest satang coin to about US$30 for the ฿1,000 note. Tiny 1, 5 and 10 satang coins technically exist but are used mainly for bank accounting, you're very unlikely to ever see one.

Whose face is on Thai money?

The reigning monarch's. Current Series 17 banknotes, issued from 2018, show King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) on the front, with pairs of past kings from Rama I through Rama X on the backs, from the ฿20 up to the ฿1,000. Coins minted from 2018 also show Rama X, but coins with the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) minted over his 70-year reign are still in circulation everywhere and remain fully valid.

Is it really illegal to step on Thai money?

Treat it as yes. Thai money carries the King's image, and in Thai culture the foot is the lowest, least respectful part of the body, so stepping on a note or coin reads as stepping on the King's face. That can be interpreted as an insult to the monarch under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, the lèse-majesté law, which carries 3 to 15 years' imprisonment per offence. Whatever the odds of a tourist actually being charged, the social offence is real and immediate, so if a note blows away or a coin rolls, chase it with your hands, never your shoe.

Do I need cash in Thailand in 2026 or can I pay by QR code everywhere?

You still need cash. Thai locals pay for almost everything by scanning PromptPay QR codes, from department stores down to street food carts, but the system runs off Thai bank accounts. As of 2026, visitors from several ASEAN countries plus China and Hong Kong can scan Thai QR codes through linked home-country apps, but most Western visitors can't, and card terminals are far less common than QR at small businesses. Plan on cash for markets, street food, songthaews, taxis and small shops, and cards for hotels, malls and chain restaurants.

Are counterfeit Thai baht notes common?

No, counterfeits are uncommon, and the ongoing switch to polymer notes with clear see-through windows (the ฿20 from 2022, the ฿50 and ฿100 from late 2025, per the Bank of Thailand) makes fakes harder to pass. Vendors rarely scrutinise notes the way you might see elsewhere. If you want a quick check on a ฿500 or ฿1,000, hold it to the light for the watermark and feel for raised print over the portrait; on polymer notes, look for the clear windows. Exchange money at banks and licensed changers and it's a non-issue.

Can I spend old or damaged US dollars at Thai exchange booths?

Often not. Thai banks and money changers are notoriously picky about foreign notes: US bills that are pre-1996 series, torn, taped, written on, heavily creased or badly worn are commonly rejected outright or exchanged at a worse rate, and acceptance varies by branch and even by teller. If you're bringing dollars, carry crisp, newer-series $50 and $100 bills (larger bills usually get slightly better rates) and keep them flat and unmarked.

What are satang coins and do I need them?

Satang are the cents of the baht, 100 satang = ฿1, and in practice they're nearly extinct. Prices in most shops are rounded to the baht, and the only place you'll reliably meet the copper-coloured 25 and 50 satang coins is as change at supermarket chains. Accept them, they're legal tender, but expect small vendors to round rather than count out satang, and don't be surprised if you end a trip with a pocketful you never managed to spend.

Why do some Thai banknotes feel like plastic?

Because they are. The Bank of Thailand moved the ฿20 to polymer (a durable plastic substrate) in March 2022 and converted the ฿50 and ฿100 in November 2025, citing durability and hygiene, polymer notes don't absorb moisture and dirt the way paper does. The ฿500 and ฿1,000 remain paper as of July 2026. Paper and polymer versions of the same denomination are both valid, so a mixed wallet is completely normal.

Thai Baht Guide: Notes, Coins & Money Rules 2026

Thai money is easy to like: the notes are colour-coded, the coins are chunky and logical, and prices are refreshingly round. But the baht comes with one rule that has no equivalent back home, you never step on it, plus a few quirks worth knowing before your first market run: coins showing two different kings, satang denominations that barely exist, QR codes that locals use for everything but you mostly can’t, and exchange booths that will turn their nose up at your perfectly good (but slightly old) US dollars.

This guide walks through the notes and coins you’ll actually handle, the law behind the step-on-money rule, and the honest cash-versus-QR reality in 2026. All conversions use ฿33 = US$1 (July 2026); the baht floats, so check the live rate before any big exchange. For the mechanics of actually getting baht, our exchanging money in Thailand and ATM fees in Thailand guides cover rates, booths and machine charges in detail.

Thai banknotes at a glance

Note	Colour	Approx. value (July 2026)	Material (2026)	Good to know
฿20	Green	~US$0.60	Polymer (since 2022)	Workhorse note for street food and songthaews
฿50	Blue	~US$1.50	Polymer (since Nov 2025)	Least common note in change
฿100	Red	~US$3	Polymer (since Nov 2025)	The note you’ll handle most
฿500	Purple	~US$15	Paper	Standard ATM note; small vendors may struggle to change it
฿1,000	Grey	~US$30	Paper	ATMs love it, street stalls don’t; watch it in dim light

Denominations and materials per the Bank of Thailand; conversions at ฿33 = US$1, July 2026.

All five are Series 17 notes, issued from 2018, with King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) in Royal Thai Air Force uniform on the front. The backs are a small history lesson: each note carries a pair of past kings, running from Rama I on the ฿20 through to Rama IX and Rama X on the ฿1,000. The colour coding does most of the work for you, the main practical trap is the ฿1,000 in dim light. It’s the note a tired traveller hands over thinking it’s a ฿100, and the note a rare dishonest driver claims was a ฿100. Sort big notes to one side of your wallet and you’ve solved it.

Since November 2025 you’ll also notice some notes feel like plastic. That’s polymer, and it’s official: the Bank of Thailand moved the ฿20 to polymer in March 2022 and converted the ฿50 and ฿100 in November 2025. As the central bank put it when announcing the switch, “As the 20 Baht is the most widely used denomination, it is therefore prone to being more worn out and soiled than other denominations” (Bank of Thailand, January 2022). Paper and polymer versions circulate side by side and both are valid.

What coins will you actually handle?

Six, in practice: 25 satang, 50 satang, ฿1, ฿2, ฿5 and ฿10. The satang is the baht’s cent (100 satang = ฿1), and the 1, 5 and 10 satang coins technically still exist but survive mainly in bank accounting, you will almost certainly never touch one. Even the 25 and 50 satang are on life support: prices at most shops are rounded to the baht, and supermarket chains are about the only places that still count out satang change. Accept them with grace and expect to fly home with a few.

The baht coins are where the small confusions live. The ฿10 is the easy one, a two-tone coin with a gold centre and silver ring that looks strikingly like a €2 coin (Europeans, check your change at home). The ฿1, ฿2 and ฿5 need a second look: the ฿1 and ฿5 are both silvery, told apart by size, and while the current ฿2 is gold-coloured, an older silvery ฿2 also circulates and is easily mistaken for a ฿1. Check the numerals, every coin carries Arabic numerals alongside the Thai script.

One more thing you’ll notice: many coins show the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX), who reigned for 70 years until 2016, while coins minted from 2018 show King Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X). Both are fully valid and circulate together; nobody sorts them, and neither should you.

Why must you never step on Thai money?

Because every Thai banknote and most coins carry the King’s image, and stepping on it can be treated as an insult to the monarchy under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, which carries 3 to 15 years’ imprisonment per offence (Lèse-majesté in Thailand, Wikipedia). The cultural logic doubles the offence: in Thailand the foot is the lowest and least respectful part of the body, so pinning a rolling coin with your shoe reads, quite literally, as putting your foot on the King’s face.

Will a tourist who reflexively stops a runaway ฿10 actually be prosecuted? Almost certainly the police won’t be your problem, the people around you will be, and the offence taken is instant and genuine. The habit to build is simple: if a note blows away or a coin rolls, chase it with your hands, never your foot. The same respect logic applies more broadly, don’t sit on money, don’t crumple notes theatrically, and handle cash with reasonable care. It costs you nothing and marks you as someone who gets it; our Thai culture and customs guide covers the wider etiquette around feet, heads and the monarchy. Standard disclaimer for anything law-adjacent: we’re a travel guide, not lawyers, and lèse-majesté enforcement in particular is broad and unpredictable, so err well on the side of respect.

Do Thai money changers really reject old US dollars?

Yes, routinely, and it surprises people every week. If you bring US dollars to exchange, Thai banks and licensed money changers commonly refuse or discount bills that are pre-1996 series (“old face” designs), torn, taped, written on, heavily creased or just tired-looking, and acceptance varies by chain, branch and sometimes the individual teller. A bill that sails through one booth gets bounced at the next. Larger denominations ($50s and $100s) also typically get a slightly better rate than small bills.

The fix is boring and effective: bring crisp, newer-series $100 and $50 bills, keep them flat in an envelope rather than folded in a pocket, and don’t write on them. The same condition-pickiness applies to euros, pounds and other major currencies, just less famously. And appreciate the irony as you handle your baht: the country that rejects your slightly soft $100 will happily hand you limp, well-travelled ฿20 notes, though the polymer switch is steadily retiring the worst of them. For where to actually change money (spoiler: not the airport rows, and rarely your hotel), see exchanging money in Thailand.

Do you still need cash in 2026, or is QR everything?

You still need cash, even though Thais barely use it. PromptPay, the national instant-payment system launched under the Bank of Thailand in 2016, has made QR codes the default way locals pay for nearly everything: the laminated QR taped to a noodle cart is as standard as the cart itself, and Thailand runs some of the highest QR-payment usage in the world. The catch for you is that paying by PromptPay QR generally requires a Thai bank account, which short-stay visitors don’t have.

There are partial workarounds as of 2026. Visitors from several ASEAN countries plus China and Hong Kong can scan Thai QR codes directly through linked home-country banking and wallet apps under cross-border payment agreements (Wise, PromptPay for foreigners, 2026), and expats with Thai bank accounts use PromptPay like locals. For most Western tourists, though, the practical 2026 stack is: cards (or phone wallets) at hotels, malls, chains and anywhere with a terminal, and cash for markets, street food, songthaews, taxis, entry fees and small shops. Withdraw larger amounts less often to blunt Thailand’s flat foreign-card ATM fee, the maths is in our ATM fees in Thailand guide, and keep a stash of ฿20s and ฿100s, because a street vendor facing a ฿1,000 note at 8am genuinely may not have change. Small notes are also what you’ll want for tipping, which in Thailand is appreciated but not obligatory, see tipping in Thailand.

How common are counterfeit baht notes?

Uncommon enough that you shouldn’t lose sleep over them. Thai vendors rarely inspect notes with the suspicion you might see in some countries, and the shift to polymer is closing the door further: the polymer ฿20, ฿50 and ฿100 carry clear see-through windows with embossed and colour-shifting elements that are genuinely hard to fake (Bank of Thailand security features). If you want a 5-second check on the paper ฿500 and ฿1,000, hold the note to the light for the watermark and tilt it to catch the colour-shifting ink, and feel for raised print over the portrait.

Your realistic protection is simpler than forensics: change money at banks and licensed exchange booths, not with a helpful stranger offering a great rate, and count your change at night markets like you would anywhere. Do that and counterfeits stay a pub-quiz fact rather than a travel problem.

Where to next

You now know the baht better than most people who’ve lived here a year. Put it to work: exchanging money in Thailand covers where the good rates hide, ATM fees in Thailand shows how to stop the machines eating your budget, and Thai culture and customs explains the wider etiquette behind the step-on-money rule. Then go spend some of those ฿20s at whatever’s on this week in Thailand events.

Thai Baht Currency Guide: Notes, Coins & Money Rules