The general dollar sign $ is used in so many common situations and countries that people dealing with international transactions would by habit verify which currency is it referring to. However, using a symbol currently only used by a specific currency would create a potential for errors if not outright frauds. Just imagine if you had a contract for ฿100.00 thinking it was 100 bitcoin but the other person pays you 100 baht instead.

Agree! Also, I don't think this will help Bitcoin adoption in Thailand which is something I am working on. Thailand already has a law against community currencies. As far as I know this law hasn't been used against Bitcoin yet, but this is something that may change if "patriots" there get annoyed.

Please don't.

I don't think this is currently being used.

I still feel it could be argued strongly that there will be more people actively using the symbol to represent Bitcoin than the Thai money.  


Also fromr/Bitcoin




Basically, it is not big deal, except to the people who are making it out to be a big deal in 'what if' land

Where did you pull that number from?

Or you assume all Thai people use or care for their currency symbol.   I wish the US dollar symbol would get hijacked and used for something better by some other land, shake things up a bit.

An issue with creating a new symbol is the installing it to new systems.  There is still a couple of the symbols used in the original post that do not show up on my computer, just a blank square.

Short term convenience is reason enough to try and hijack one?

I remember people hat no issue with installing fonts that only had a € symbol. At some point I guess someone in the EU administration used a process the Unicode consortium provides to apply for the symbol. Maybe we could use the same process which is outlined here:
http://www.unicode.org/pending/proposals.html

I am sure if the tech laggards in the EU admin could do that, we can, too. In the meantime, providing a font file for download will be sufficient.

Doing what-if is what we call being intelligent. Most invertebrates don't do that - they only respond to immediate stimuli.

And WHAT IF this is being used by the Bitcoin haters to show that we just behave like the immoral scum they believe we are? You are right, if no one makes a big deal out of it, it won't be. But the press and other people with agendas are known to make a big deal out of even real non-issues.

No idea if it makes sense to talk to you about the right of people not to get trampled all over them - which is just what hijacking the Baht symbol is. Maybe you just give a shit. People in the 3rd world have been kicked in their faces many hundred years. One more kick can't hurt, can it? As Gabi said - there is probably nothing the Thai government can do about it. The OpenSource community has been known to give, not to take from others just because they can't defend themselves.

Another what if: What if Bitcoin had been named ExabyteCoin? Would you have the guts to use €? Because this is exactly the same size of deal!


+1

70 Million inhabitants. If you choose to subtract children, you also need to add user of Thai Baht in the bordering countries.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_baht
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Thailand

Most people wouldn't care. Most are currently busy with unstable politics and the flood desaster. Reason enough to steal from them? Just like ore companies from China stealing rate earths and stuff from the Africans because they don't know better?


Again: Is this a good enough reason to steal it? They designed it, they registered it with the Unicode Consortium. It's theirs. What you, Gabi and a few others display here is pure chauvinism.

You don't mind if I share your car and your wallet, do you?

Sometimes sharing adds. Not in this case. I am not angry, I am worried and disappointed.

OK, I give you that: It isn't the best analogy. Still, using the word 'sharing' is just a euphemism. Man, you really don't get it, do you. This is wrong. This can fly in our face. Big potential for really big trouble. Why do you insist to put Bitcoin into danger?

At least you should figure out if the Thai government really can't get us: Are we violating some international law? If yes, an official complaint from the Bank of Thailand is just what some senators in the US or some commissioners in the EU need to promote themselves. Do I need to remind you that we're just 2.54cm from being declared enemy in the war against drugs?

But then: Viel Feind, viel Ehr'