End of the coin age here in Thailand
It has been fascinating to watch over the many decades the technological changes and that have quickly swept oftentimes well established industries into the dustbin of business history. Numerous examples abound: photocopiers literally wiped out, mimeographs and carbon copy paper overnight; digital cameras made film photography instantly obsolescent; the internet doomed travel agents; cellphones struck the death knell for land lines.
A long and growing list of the old giving way to the new and (even sometimes) improved.
Cellphones armed with QR codes are making currency – coins and paper (or now polymer) money – a memory. All are candidates for the national coin museum. One pre-Covid-19 story is from my mate who visited a good friend in China several years ago. He changed his Thai Baht into Chinese Yuan on arrival, but he never got to use his cash for payment one time during his stay! All transactions were done cellphone-to-cellphone using QR codes. Even a single fruit cart seller in a remote national park did not accept any cash, only QR code electronic transfers. Since my mate did not have the proper QR code on his cellphone he had his friend use his. He repaid him in cash after each transaction.
My own recent experience with QR codes a few days ago was a perfect example of my being stuck in antediluvian (or pre-historic) times as far as electronic money transfers are concerned. I ordered some PVC sleeves for some paper money I am sending to auction. I got a phone call from the delivery person wanting payment. Of course, I was out with my son having fun and was not at home. I said to please come back in a few hours, but the delivery person wasn’t budging. He wanted his payment. After repeated phone calls I finally had to hand my cellphone to a convenient Thai manager at the play area we were at. A solution was quickly found. The manager would transfer money from his phone to the delivery person and I would pay the manager in cash.
But where and when did “flat” coins first come to Thailand? Actually, modern stamped, mass produced flat coins were finally introduced here in the middle of the 19th century, centuries after they appeared in the West. It is interesting to note in the West that metallic coins were first introduced about the 6th century BC., but the first Thai “money” was established about 200 AD. by the Funan Empire that covered SE Asia when flat silver coins were hammered out. Through the centuries Thai coinage evolved into various shapes including bars, rods, spherical and semi-spherical shapes.
However, even if Thais still have a real love affair with their commemorative coins and collectible paper money, I believe we have seen the start of the last go around for hard currency – money and coins – as electronic cash transfers continue to dominate business transactions.
Editors note: A point worth noting (excuse the pun…). I think it was Peter Thiel, Elon Musk’s partner at PayPal who made a speech well before smartphones that we would all be using our smartphone to transact in the future. Hence Elon’s smart move to purchase Twitter. Jack Dorsey the founder of Twitter also had the same idea. He co-founded Square in 2009, and the company changed its name to Block in December. This is another company specialising in smartphone transacting. You only have to look at all the high street bank closures across the world. Soon there will not be any left and you will have no option but to transact online.
(Token get a picture of someone transacting with their bank online or paying for purchases in a retailer. And another of a pile of Thai coins and notes).
