Coins of Thailand
In the XIII-XV centuries, when the territories of modern Thailand were called the Kingdom of Sukotai, kauri shells ("bia," Thai. เบี้ย) Caught in the Mekong River began to be used as funds. The use of the shells of these small mollusks as a means of payment has spread widely to Southeast Asia from China, where this method of calculation has been practiced since the 15th century BC. It should be noted that kauri as a means of payment found its spread in Africa during the slave trade, and even in Russia during the "coin-free period." The use of shells in small transactions continued in the Kingdom of Siam until the middle of the 19th century.
