Thai Gold

G

Giodor8

Active Member
Hi guys. I currently find myself in thailand and have been dabbling in their local gold market. Its a very simple way to trade here. Buy a 5 baht bar which is about 76 grams for 100 baht per baht over the current price and when its time to sell you get 100 baht per baht less than the current spot price. Sounds like the fairest deal I have come across.
My question to stackers is that these bars are only 96.5% pure. Is there a demand for these types of bars in australia?
Comments welcome.
Ps 1 baht is roughly 15 grams of gold. Dont confuse the terminology baht when talking about weight of gold to the currency baht.
 
Good point. A question worth asking a local dealer maybe? I have also seen perth mint bars for sale here but they are obviously in a different pricing category.
 
Credit Crunch said:
0.999 fine gold or silver can attract GST if it is bought/sold other than primarily for its metal value. eg. all the Perth Mints proof & collectable coins would attract GST but plain silver bars and bullion coins would not. The RAM's kangaroos on card while be 999 fine silver attract the GST.

Bullion higher than 99.5% gold, 99.9% silver and 99.9% Platinum do not attract GST. Therefore all 22k gold (eg US eagles), Sovereigns (91.7%) attract GST but a 99.99 gold kangaroo will not attract GST. At Sterling Silver coins 92.5% will attract GST but 99.9% silver coins like the Kookaburra, Koalas, Kangaroos will not attract GST.
Click to expand...
 
Another thing worth mentioning is that the shops have their own bars they source and will only give you the highest rate for their own bars when it comes time to sell. If you bring a bar from another store they charge an extra 100 baht per baht of gold being sold so you lose 200 baht instead of 100 baht but thats still reasonable.
 
I think if you had to pay gst on the bars you would still be paying less than the premiums charged on australian gold. What are the current premiums in percentage terms on perth mint gold at the moment?
 
The basic bars are the cheapest. The dragon bars etc fetch an extra 250 baht per baht premium but sorry no pics. The basic bars are either block shaped or the hand poured free shape.
 
So they are 23k gold bars, Sovereigns are 22k and they are still popular so the purity may not be too much of an issue, just how recognisable they are to your buyer, anything too different will be harder to sell but if the price is right someone will want it.
 
My question about whether people in australia would buy these bars is purely a curiousity question. I am just trying to find out if anyone has bought any of these in the past and whether its worth it if you were to bring some back to australia.
 
Since each store has their own brands of bars the purity testing issue is a good one to bring up but it only becomes a concern to the stores here when you bring someone elses brand bar in. They obviously test in store. Plus they are hyper concerned about gold plated tungsten bars so they do test even their own bars before buying back off you.
 
If thats the case the 1 baht bars would be the ones to go for even with the 350 baht premium instead of the 100 baht premium. 1 baht would cost around the $700 mark at the moment. (20500 baht)
 
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to take gold out of Thailand. You might risk seizure at the airport, though I've worn a necklace out without issue.
Baht bars might constitute export. I did read somewhere that the industry had been deregulated and so perhaps it is no longer so controlled.

As for purity, that's why the shops hallmark their own gold and buy it back and charge for other shops - lack of gold purity standards. If you want to get cheapest gold then Hong Kong is the place. 0.9999 and minimal premiums for recognised coins.

And if you want to see the biggest lump of gold you'll likely see in your lifetime try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Buddha_(statue)

The statue is 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall and weighs 5.5 tonnes

IMG_5148.jpg

Source: golden buddha at wat traimit
 
Anyone have more insight into the Thai bars?
I now find myself in Thailand with a gold shop across from my hotel.
Checked out a gold shop in Singapore on the way over, they had the usual pamp certicards from 2.5g up to 100g but they also had these interesting coins manufactured in Singapore that I had never seen or heard of (didn't get the name), however they were only of .916 purity. There were 2g, 5g, 10g and 20g sizes. 22k price was 54SGD per gram so I passed it up thinking I could do better buying .999 in Australia.
I must say the 24k jewellery on display was just breathtaking. Pretty sure I left drool over the glass counter.
 
Do a search, I think importation, etc of bullion is illegal without a licence, I believe that is one of the reasons the bars are all 23k, they come in under some threshold
 
There's no restriction on bringing gold into Australia as a private individual. Look up the Customs website - they have a printout just for gold and travel to Australia.

There are GST implications for such gold because of the purity, which means they would only be bought as scrap, and you would need to ensure you have got what you paid for. E.g. five fake Krugerrands turned up in Melbourne today. Someone lost about $7000.
 
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