Inside the money house

THAILAND’S ORIGINAL Note Printing Facility, sitting alongside the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, used to be a highly restricted facility enclosed within walls, its windows reinforced with thick iron bars. 
Now it’s welcoming visitors as the Learning Centre, with glass walls and open spaces, housing the Bank of Thailand Museum, a hi-tech library, and one of those new-fashioned “co-working spaces”.
Opposite Bank of Thailand headquarters on Samsen Road next to Rama VIII Bridge, the 49-year-old building, designed by ML Santhaya Israsena and Dr Ratchata Kanjanavit, ceded its 12,900 square metres to the Learning Centre, which opened earlier this year to commemorate the central bank’s 75th anniversary. 

The Bank of Thailand has transformed its former, high-security Note Printing Facility into an open-plan Learning Centre for the public.

This was the national Note Printing Facility from 1969 to 2007. Banknotes have since then been produced at a bigger facility in Nakhon Pathom.
“The renovations took about two years, retaining much of the structural foundation because of its historical value,” says Sumit Glumsiri, the bank’s assistant director of financial literacy. 
“Despite its location on the riverside and the fact it contained massive printing machines, the structure remains strong, with solid grid columns that showed no sign of damage. Most of the oppressive outer facade has been removed and replaced with glazing and steel mesh to reveal the interior and offer a picturesque view of the river.”

The Learning Centre combines the Bank of Thailand Museum, a hi-tech library and a co-working space.

The museum at the centre traces the history of Thai currency and economics. It includes the high-ceiling hall where the printing presses used to roar as they churned out banknotes. You can see the metal struts on the ceiling that held them in place, but there are also three presses on exhibit. Multimedia displays show how they operated.
“The presses used to run almost all the time and were very loud,” says Sumit. “The convex, ‘beehive’ roof was cleverly designed to absorb the noise, and we’ve replicated it in the pattern of the mesh facade and the centre’s logo.”

The Note Printing Hall displays three presses that were churned out banknotes starting in 1969. 

Series 1 – the first Siamese banknotes, issued in 1902 during the reign of King Rama V – was printed in England by Thomas De La Rue & Co. The same firm handled the job until World War II, when Thailand’s alliance with Japan barred any dealings with Britain.
Instead, Japan printed Thailand’s money, but again, the war intervened, preventing the bills from being transported, resulting in a scarcity of notes that affected all sectors of the economy. That, says Sumit, is when Thailand realised it needed a printing facility of its own.
Also on view in the old building are five hong munkhong (security vaults), one atop the other. Only top officials got near these because of the amount of money stored there as well as the master printing plates and papers. 
The vaults now hold wonderful illustrations on the history of Thai currency, from the lydijunan – which Sumit says is the oldest currency in history – to pieces used in the Dvaravati, Lanna and Ayutthaya eras. There are also the first paper money, mai, introduced by King Rama IV, and gold-bond bars issued during World War II.

Sumit Glumsiri of the BOT points out the steel door of the former vaults – now the gateway to the museum’s exhibition area.

“This area had maximum security, and the great steel door was electronically controlled and secured with pass-codes given to three security officials,” says Sumit. “Each one had his own pass-code, and the door only opened when all three codes were used.”
There’s a mobile-phone app, of course. “BOT Museum” features an audio guide and can be used in scanning QR codes for videos. 

Chiang coins were once used in Lanna Kingdom.

 “In 1893 the government printed paper Ngoen Kradat Luang – Treasury Notes,” Sumit says. “There were eight denominations in various colours and sizes. Unfortunately they never went into circulation due to inefficient management. They were eventually destroyed, except for 10 sets, and our collection has more than anyone else.”
The gold-bond bars and coins issued during World War II amid severe inflation matured after eight years, when the owner could redeem them for gold or cash. There were four denominations – Bt10,000 in the form of 1.7-kilogram of bullion, and Bt1,000, Bt100 and Bt50 in the form of coins. 

Gold-bond bullion and coins were issued during World War II, when the country was coping with severe inflation. 

Another room is devoted to the Bank of Thailand’s mission to safeguard the country’s financial stability and promote sustainable economic wellbeing. The bank’s governors are depicted in miniatures, from the first, His Highness Prince Vivadhanajaya, to the present, Veerathai Santiprabhob. Several governors appear in video interviews talking about conditions during their tenures.

A room promotes the key roles of the Bank of Thailand.

The glass-wrapped, 150-seat Prince Vivadhanajaya Library has a superb view of the river and Rama VIII Bridge. It has 30,000 books, mainly about economics and banking, that can be searched with a hi-tech touch-screen. All the reading tables have sockets ready for laptops and the Wi-Fi is free for an hour.

Prince Vivadhanajaya Library has a superb view of the river and Rama VIII Bridge.

“We also have journals from financial organisations like the International Monetary Fund, Bank for International Settlements and the central banks of many countries, and books by Nobel Prize economics laureates from 1969 to the present,” says Nantana Krodtem, also an assistant director of financial literacy at the bank. 
“These resources were previously only available to bank staff, but this place is meant to be a knowledge-sharing centre.”

Access to certain resources requires membership, which costs Bt1,500 per year. The centre is affiliated with the Online Computer Learning Centre, a global knowledge-sharing network, so members get access to digital resources at more than 7,000 libraries. They can also borrow books, get free Wi-Fi and museum access, and pay half the usual price of using a co-working space.

The co-working space has rooms for individuals and groups of eight or more.

The co-working space is called the “Idea Box”. There are four rooms suitable for individuals, rented at Bt300 an hour, and three big enough for groups of eight or more for Bt500. All have multimedia equipment. 
There are two auditoriums – one fitting 90 people and the other 300 – for seminars or other events related to economics and finance. There’s even a riverside cafe, Pacamara, that serves a good cup of coffee and baked items.

BANK ON LEARNING
The Bank of Thailand Learning Centre on Samsen Road of Bangkok is open daily except Monday from 9.30am. The museum closes at 4.30pm and the library and co-working space at 8pm.
Admission to the museum is free until June. Guided tours are conducted six times a day, at 9.30, 10, 10.30, 1.30, 2 and 2.30. The tour lasts an hour and 45 minutes.
Find out more at (02) 356 7766 or visit www.Botlc.or.th.