Bank of Thailand

Bank of Thailand
ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย
Seal of Siam Devadhiraj, guardian deity of Thailand holding a money bag and a sceptre
Seal of Siam Devadhiraj, guardian deity of Thailand holding a money bag and a sceptre
Bang Khun Phrom Palace
Bang Khun Phrom Palace
HeadquartersPhra Nakhon, Bangkok, Thailand
Coordinates13°46′08″N 100°30′03″E / 13.7689°N 100.5009°E / 13.7689; 100.5009
Established28 April 1942 (legal)
10 December 1942 (began operations)
GovernorSethaput Suthiwartnarueput
Central bank ofKingdom of Thailand
CurrencyThai baht
THB (ISO 4217)
ReservesUS$243.49 billion (2023)[1]
Bank rate2.5%[2]
Websitewww.bot.or.th Edit this at Wikidata

The Bank of Thailand (BOT; abbr. ธปท.; Thai: ธนาคารแห่งประเทศไทย, RTGSthanakhan haeng prathet thai) is the central bank of Thailand.

History

The Bank of Thailand (BOT) was first set up as the Thai National Banking Bureau. The Bank of Thailand Act was promulgated on 28 April 1942 vesting upon the Bank of Thailand the responsibility for all central banking functions. The Bank of Thailand started operations on 10 December 1942.[3]

The Bank of Thailand Act, B.E. 2485 was later amended in order to put emphasis on its social responsibility, to create a mechanism to guard against economic crisis, as well as to set up its decision making process to ensure good governance and transparency in the organization. The Bank of Thailand Act, B.E. 2551 came into force on 4 March 2008.

Project Nexus

The Bank for International Settlements signed an agreement with Central Bank of Malaysia, Bank of Thailand, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Reserve Bank of India on 30 June 2024 as founding member of Project Nexus, a multilateral international initiative to enable retail cross-border payments. Bank Indonesia was involved as a special observer. The platform, which is expected to go live by 2026, will interlink domestic fast payment systems of the member countries.[4]

Roles and responsibilities

The Bank of Thailand's mission is to provide a stable financial environment for sustainable economic growth in order to achieve continuous improvement in the standard of living of the people of Thailand.[5]

Governors

The Governor of the Bank of Thailand[6] has a five-year term of not more than two consecutive terms. The Minister of Finance nominates a candidate to the Thai Cabinet. When the cabinet passes a resolution approving the candidate, it is presented to the monarch for his approval.

List of governors

# Name Took office Left office
1 Prince Vivadhanajaya 27 November 1942 16 October 1946
2 Serm Vinicchayakul 17 October 1946 24 November 1947
3 Leng Srisomwongse 25 November 1947 2 September 1948
1(2) Prince Vivadhanajaya 3 September 1948 2 December 1948
3(2) Leng Srisomwongse 3 December 1948 3 August 1949
4 Dej Snidvongs 4 August 1949 29 February 1952
2(2) Serm Vinicchayakul 1 March 1952 24 July 1955
5 Kasem Sriphayak 25 July 1955 23 July 1958
6 Jote Guna-Kasem 24 July 1958 3 May 1959
7 Puey Ungphakorn 11 June 1959 15 August 1971
8 Bisudhi Nimmanhaemin 16 August 1971 23 May 1975
9 Snoh Unakul 24 May 1975 31 October 1979
10 Nukul Prachuabmoh 1 Nov 1979 13 September 1984
11 Kamchorn Sathirakul 14 September 1984 5 March 1990
12 Chavalit Thanachanan 6 March 1990 30 September 1990
13 Vijit Supinit 1 October 1990 1 July 1996
14 Rerngchai Marakanond 13 July 1996 28 July 1997
15 Chaiwat Wiboonsawat 31 July 1997 4 May 1998
16 M.R. Chatumongol Sonakul 7 May 1998 30 May 2001
17 M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula 31 May 2001 6 October 2006
18 Tarisa Watanagase 8 November 2006 30 September 2010
19 Prasarn Trairatvorakul 1 October 2010 30 September 2015
20 Veerathai Santiprabhob 1 October 2015 30 September 2020
21 Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput 1 October 2020 Present

See also

References

  1. ^ "Total reserves (includes gold, current US$) – Thailand". World Bank. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Policy Interest Rate". bot.or.th. Bank of Thailand. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  3. ^ "History of the Bank of Thailand". Bank of Thailand. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ Kawale, Ajinkya (1 July 2024). "RBI, four Asean countries tie up for cross-border payments platform". Business Standard. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Roles and Responsibilities of the Bank of Thailand". Bank of Thailand (BOT). Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ "List of Governors of the Bank of Thailand". Bank of Thailand. Archived from the original on 12 July 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.