I had the privilege to visit the Bank of Thailand Museum, Bangkok on one of my trips to Thailand. It is the first central bank of any country that I have gone near to! The buildings are impressive. I could not capture the main museum building but the whole complex is made of former palaces!
What struck me most was that to visit the museum one has to seek prior permission from the bank and it can be done only in groups. As I was traveling with Thailand Tourism Authority, New Delhi my permission was already sorted. The main palace (not in picture) where the museum is named Bangkhunprom Palace.
While we were waiting to be escorted inside I decided to click the beautiful premises. There were blooming orchids too but then I decided not to post them, after all this is a museum post and not a nature post! You see the trouble is that photography within the museum is not permitted.
The museum is divided into many rooms, 14 in all. It traces, what else, but the history of money. Some of it we are familiar with. Societies started with simple things like cowries as money. We graduated to metals and then the current form of notes.
To me what stood out was the concern of counterfeiting the currency and how measures were taken in various eras to combat it. I never really thought about the paper and the printing press and the country they were located in connection of money.
The custodian of the museum, the lady on my left was about to retire in a year after serving at the bank for more than 30 years! With the modern careers being what they are, I was quite impressed by the length of her service. It was an absolute privilege to meet her and visit the museum.
