BANGKOK Thai 10-baht coins are popping into vending machines across Europe because they look and weigh the same as two-euro coins, but are worth nearly eight times less.

Thailand says it is up to the European Union (EU) to solve the problem of old vending machines failing to tell the difference between its new single currency and the Thai coin.

"The fact that our 10-baht coin is similar to the two-euro coin is the problem of the EU, not Thailand," senior Finance Ministry official Thevan Vichitakul was quoted as saying in the ****Bangkok Post***** daily on Saturday.

He said Thailand would not change its 10-baht coin, in circulation since 1988, which is worth just 0.26 euros.

Like the two-euro coin, the gold and silver colored 10-baht coin weighs 8.5 grams. But the Thai coin's diameter is 0.25 millimeters wider than its European look-alike.

The newest vending machines can differentiate metallic content. Both coins are predominantly copper, but unlike the baht, the euro contains zinc.

A European Union official in Bangkok said the European Central Bank was aware of the problem. But Thailand had not been blamed for the confusion or asked to withdraw its coins.

"There are so many coins in circulation from different countries, that it's impossible for them all to be completely different," the European Commission spokesman told Reuters.

"If vending machine operators find foreign coins in their machines, it's up to them to change their software," he said.

Europeans returning from the popular Southeast Asian tourist destination appear to have caught on quickly to the money-saving trick since euro coins and notes were introduced on January 1.

The ****Catalan Daily, El Periodico*****, reported last week that the owner of a bar in northern Spain had found five 10-baht coins recently when he emptied his automatic cigarette machine.

"How could the European Union have made such a mistake?" asked Alegandro Diaz, the manager of the bar in Mollet.