Gold Investment in Bangkok

For hundreds of years, gold in Thailand has been used in ornaments, utensils and religious amulets. In ancient times, statues in many Buddhist temples were made of thick golden layers. Wealthy nobles and merchants wore ornaments of bracelets, chains and rings.
When Bangkok was built over 200 years ago, gold was as popular as ever. As Bangkok grew in population and prosperity, small time merchants, mostly of Chinese descent, would purchase chains or bracelets with any Substitute for money, as a hedge against bad times. If the conditions were difficult, they would be able to continue the costly chains for cash trade for the activity. People who had emigrated from the chaos elsewhere, the relatively peaceful Bangkok knew firsthand that the bar, the paper is not a real store of value.

Early Bangkok precious metal dealers were in the Yaowarat District of Bangkok, concentrated, and the Silom section of the Chao Phraya River. When visiting these two areas, youmay still have old two-story buildings where painted on the ground floor shops, bright red, with glass, filled cabinets are lined yellow metal chains of all sizes. They also keep rings, bracelets, amulets, housing and needles.
The established businesses, lead ingots of different sizes, kg of half an ounce pieces. Established businesses are trustworthy. To Kung Tang Hua Seng Heng, and are the two top-yellow metal merchants in Bangkok. The two giants have branchesthroughout Bangkok and other provinces.
Today, these dealers are really metal dealers and brokers. They sell gold jewelry and gold bars picture formats. You may also purchase them from their customers in both formats. When they buy back from you, there is a small transaction fee, at current prices, about a hundred baht per half oz Half an ounce of the yellow metal in Bangkok is now over twelve thousand five hundred baht. About a hundred baht transaction feeis quite small when you trade gold bullion for cash.
For foreigners in Thailand, a confusing aspect of Thai bar is the system of measurement. The unit of weight for gold is Thai Baht. A baht is about half an ounce or 15.16 g. In addition to the confusion is the Thai baht as paper currency. Thus, a bar about twelve thousand five hundred baht baht. That sounds confusing, but it is still correct.
Gold in Bangkok is of high quality, if somewhat less thanstandard international investment grade. Bullion is 96.5% pure. By contrast, Swiss bullion is 99.99% pure. A jewelry such as a wrist watch bands might be a bit less pure to enhance the sturdiness.
The price of the bar is set daily by the Thai Gold Traders Association. Practically all bar transactions are done in cash. You walk into a metal shop, tell them how many baht of the yellow piece you want, and pay them in cash. By the way most metal shops do accept credit cards as well.
With all the uncertainties in the international markets, it would not be a bad idea to have made a few gold bars aside for a rainy day. It has stood the test of time as a store of value. It will continue to get popular in Bangkok for a long time.