The Thai National Banking Bureau established in 1939 with the status of a department attached to the Ministry of Finance was the first organization to perform central banking activities in Thailand. The Bureau started operations on June 24 1940 with Phraya Songsuraraj as Director. However its initial operations were limited to some central banking functions such as managing the issue of government bonds taking deposits from and lending to the Governmant government agencies and conmercial banks and transferring funds between the central region and other parts of the country.