Royal Thai Mint

The place under state authority where Thai money is coined, also known as the Bureau of the Royal Thai Mint. Besides being responsible for the creation of Thai coins, this government body is also in charge of the production of medals, royal family orders and royal decorations. It consists of offices, ateliers and a factory, and besides a permanent museum (fig.), it also frequently organizes temporary exhibitions. It is a subdivision of the Treasury Department which operates under the Ministry of Finance and as such also has a logo that features an image of Vayuphak, a creature half-bird, half-asura believed to guard treasure (fig.). Throughout history, there have been a total of five Thai Mints. They all carry the name Rohng Kasahp (โรงกษาปณ์), in addition to the name of their location, apart from the very first one which was named Rohng Krasahp (โรงกระสาปน์), i.e. with a slightly different spelling of that era. The first Mint was established in 1860 by the royal command of King Rama IV (fig.) and was located within the compound of the Grand Palace (fig.), in a building known as Sitthikahn (fig.), which hence became known as Rohng Krasahp Sitthikahn, a name coined by the King. The name of this initial building, i.e. Sitthikahn, is sometimes retained and may still occur in the names of all later Mints albeit that they are at different locations, though not everyone holds on to this. Siam first used a coin machine to produce flat standard coins after Queen Victoria had presented Rama IV with a small manual minting machine as a state gift, but due to its limited capacity to produce adequate coins to meet the market need, King Rama IV ordered a complete minting plant from Britain. Hence, the first Mint housed the very first steam-powered mint machine in the Kingdom and was introduced with the aim to eventually abandon the production of bullet money, called photduang (fig.), and replace it with the standard coins we know today. Because of limited space, the Mint was in 1875 moved to the specially built Thimdahb Building (fig.) by King Rama V (fig.). It was initially called the New Sitthikarn Mint, but later on was referred to as the second Mint, and after the Mint in 1902 relocated again, it became the Royal Guards Barracks (fig.) and today houses the Emerald Buddha Temple Museum; In 1902, the Mint moved to Chao Fah Road, in a building that today houses the National Gallery (fig.) and became known as the third Mint, also referred to as Rohng Krasahp Sitthikahn Rim Khlong Lod (ริมคลองหลอด), i.e. the ‘Sitthikarn Mint along Lod Canal’; in 1972, it was moved to Pradiphat (ประดิพัทธ์) Road, as the 4th Mint, located on a ca. 11 rai plot of land, spacious enough to house a number of state-of-the-art machines and able to produce a large volume of coins, as well some commemorative coins; and in 2002 it was relocated to its present home in Pathum Thani, in a new building known as Rohng Kasahp Rangsit, built on a ca. 126 rai plot of land. It was officially opened on 2 July 2003 by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. In the front garden (fig.) are various giant statues that represent photduang bullet money from different periods, as well as a couple of Heaton presses that in 1903 were newly installed at then Royal Mint on Chao Fah Road. There are also large water ponds filled with lotus flowers, the symbol of Pathum Thani, whose name actually means ‘Lotus City’. In each of the corners of the portico leading to the entrance of the foyer are antique decommissioned machines formerly used in coin minting in Thailand (fig.), namely a Birmingham Mint pressing machine from Britain; a French engraving machine from V. Janvier in Paris; a Birmingham Mint balance scale from Britain; and a British blanking machine from Taylor & Challen Ltd. in Birmingham. The foyer of the Mint has a small shop with books and coins, a scale model of the complex (fig.), and quite creative, the handrails of the staircases consist of elongated metal wire baskets filled with near baseball-sized replica photduang (fig.). In Thai, the Royal Thai Mint is known as Rohng Kasahp Thai (โรงกษาปณ์ไทย). See also Moht Amatyakun, POSTAGE STAMPS (1) and (2), TRAVEL PICTURE (1) and (2), PANORAMA PICTURE, and WATCH VIDEO. 回