torrzent Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) 15 hours ago, JOC said: What has happened to Thaivisa? "General Topics" used to a good and friendly banter. With intelligent and witty posts that often made me laugh. If this thread is anything to go by, all the good posters have left...? And the bar stool-"experts" have taken over... Have never seen so much nonsense posted in such a limited space..... Actually, this is a very worthwhile thread and is helping to spread facts while debunking myths. Whether it is "friendly" or not seems less important than being accurate. In any case, due diligence is required when interpreting the opinions expressed. Edited March 26, 2018 by torrzent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerbeer Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Thai gold is predominantly 96.5% btw. i buy my gold for investment purposes with Ausiris as they have good prices and ship nationwide. and if anyone happens to take Emirates, i ask them to get me some PAMP gold bar or platinum at Dubai duty free airport gold shop. Best price i seen that even beats the various prices you find at gold souk in Dubai. as everyone has pointed out labour prices make them more expensive in the west. if you are buying jewelry then buy what makes you happy. if buying for investment then look out for least premium with a well known brand name for worldwide purchase. If living in Thailand, then buy their 96.5% from an established gold chain so you can get a good price when you sell it back. if not mistaken most jewelry in the west is less than 20k gold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigermoth Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 24/03/2018 at 7:14 PM, JOC said: The explanation is very simple....Labor is cheap here.... Very cheap. Note also that 23 or 24 carat gold jewellery is uncommon in the west. It is generally about 11 or 12 carat. The reason is not to cheat people but the lower carat jewellery is far more durable. A lot of jewellery purchased in Thailand is for investment and saving reasons, not adornmemt of the body. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran00001 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 24/3/2561 at 8:25 PM, Chrisdoc said: It is traditional for Thai's to invest spare money in gold. They don't trust the bank so they wear their savings around with them. That is why it is so pure and true gold colour. In western countries more money is spent in the craftsmanship so it is not as pure as thai or Indian gold. I believe you can easily check gold's purity with a magnet. If it is close to pure it is not magnetic. Sent from my SM-G900I using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app It would have to be very low carat to be attracted to a magnet and it would also have to contain a ferrous alloy, whereas most fake gold contains tungsten as it is of similar density to gold and is not magnetic, so that test really doesn't work at all. The most common test is scratching lightly and then annealing the scratch with acid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naam Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 45 minutes ago, torrzent said: 19 hours ago, janclaes47 said: Good quality gold is not made of 24 carat, in fact it is very rarely used for jewellery, other than for marriage in China and India. Actually in India, most of the gold on offer is 22 karat. nobody in India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh and the Middle East buys the crap (12/14k) which is sold in the "West". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) On 3/24/2018 at 8:02 PM, JOC said: Have you ever heard about a Thai gold shop refusing to buy back gold sold by them? No, I didn't think so... Agree. I haven't bought jewelry, just small gold bars, but I've never had any problem selling them back at the same shop or even other shops and they always double check the current price at the time of purchase or sale ... and it corresponds exactly with what I found when checking online before going to the shop. Edited March 26, 2018 by Suradit69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 3/24/2018 at 7:18 PM, ChidlomDweller said: Is it trustworthy though? It would be so easy to pull the wool over most customers' eyes. Gold dealers here are well aware that, more than any other type of retail shop, their reputation is extremely important. Obviously you need to deal with proper gold shops and not at some night market or someone selling from a portable table on a soi off of Silom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattd Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Some very strange posts in this thread! Regarding Gold jewelry and the UK, there is very little made using 24K gold (24K is 99.95% or above purity, anything less is not 24k in commerce, Carat or Karat being a measurement of mass), whether it is quality or not. For instance there is no way that a proper quality jeweler would set a diamond in to a 24 Carat (Karat) gold ring, the diamond would be lost before too very long, it is quite simply too soft and the clamps would release the stone(s). The same goes for bracelets etc. as they would easily deform with use. Quality bracelets etc. would use 22K gold.Quality rings, watches etc. 18K for durability. Lower quality jewelry may use 14K & 9K as it is cheaper and more affordable. In fact I would go far as to say that the only 24K gold you could normally buy in the UK would be an ingot. The market in Thailand is completely different, it is an investment market and one that the gold shops also make a lot of money out of, simply by volume sales and then buy backs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smotherb Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 3/24/2018 at 7:19 PM, janclaes47 said: As said already, labour is cheap here, then also look at the finishing details compared to a western piece. I find the labor on jewelry here is quite good. However, the fact that labor is cheap and gold is traded at its market price is the real reason. In the West, most people do not know gold, they buy 10k or 14k and pay more than 23k prices here. I guess they do that to save the airfare, hotel and time off work. Diamonds are even worse in the West with inflated prices for poor quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattd Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) In theory the base gold trades at the same price worldwide, that is set by the commodities market. There are many reasons why the price of gold jewelry fluctuates between countries, as do pretty much all commodities. It will all depend on what the market can stand, overhead of the retailer etc. etc. Remembering that the gold shops here make their profit on the sell and buying market, rather than the pure retailing. A lot of the Thai's that purchase gold do so to save money and as many lose money this way as do those that make money, the gold shops cannot really lose, they buy and sell at the rate of the day and have a far better idea of what the market price for gold is going to be looking ahead than their average customer. Edited March 26, 2018 by Mattd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tropo Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 4 hours ago, Kieran00001 said: On 3/24/2018 at 8:25 PM, Chrisdoc said: It is traditional for Thai's to invest spare money in gold. They don't trust the bank so they wear their savings around with them. That is why it is so pure and true gold colour. In western countries more money is spent in the craftsmanship so it is not as pure as thai or Indian gold. I believe you can easily check gold's purity with a magnet. If it is close to pure it is not magnetic. Sent from my SM-G900I using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app It would have to be very low carat to be attracted to a magnet and it would also have to contain a ferrous alloy, whereas most fake gold contains tungsten as it is of similar density to gold and is not magnetic, so that test really doesn't work at all. The most common test is scratching lightly and then annealing the scratch with acid. I'm curious to know if (real) white gold (14 or 18k) would stick to a strong magnet. They use nickel, manganese or palladium in the alloy to make white gold. Nickel and manganese are magnetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaurene Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 They come in 3 grads. 1,. 2,. or. 3 CT. They are quite hollow, especially the 1 CT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattd Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 20 minutes ago, shaurene said: They come in 3 grads. 1,. 2,. or. 3 CT. They are quite hollow, especially the 1 CT. What does? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkcjag Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 How to test gold: https://www.sbcgold.com/blog/test-gold-5-simple-ways-spot-fake-gold/ https://bellatory.com/fashion-accessories/jewelry-and-valuables-how-to-tell-what-karat-gold-is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 1 hour ago, tropo said: I'm curious to know if (real) white gold (14 or 18k) would stick to a strong magnet. They use nickel, manganese or palladium in the alloy to make white gold. Nickel and manganese are magnetic. The white gold in part of my wedding ring is alloyed with Rubidium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunPer Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 3/24/2018 at 12:40 PM, RandolphGB said: Any feedback from someone with experience of Thai gold would be much appreciated. Thanks Thais buy gold, not labor. To my knowledge, gold is for many thais still used as savings – and when in need of cash the gold is either pawned or sold, both can be done in the gold shop, where "Thai gold" (close to 24 carat) is traded by weight – and gold can at the same time be used to "make face" by flashing one's savings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 On 25/03/2018 at 4:48 AM, simoh1490 said: With that small inconvenient fact in mind: Thai gold jewellery is predominantly made from 96.2% pure gold or 22-carat gold rather than anything else and is Point of correction Pure is 24-carat and 96.2% is 23-carat not 22-carat 22-carat is 91.66% Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattd Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 9 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said: Point of correction Pure is 24-carat and 96.2% is 23-carat not 22-carat 22-carat is 91.66% Conversion between percentage of pure gold and karats: 58.33–62.50% = 14K (acclaimed 58.33%) 75.00–79.16% = 18K (acclaimed 75.00%) 91.66–95.83% = 22K (acclaimed 91.66%) 95.83–99.95% = 23K (acclaimed 95.83%) 99.95–100% = 24K (acclaimed 99.99%) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speckio Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) On 3/25/2018 at 10:56 AM, janclaes47 said: Really? Never seen 24K gold jewellery in th. i always thought westerner's stayed away from 24k jewelry because it was to soft and would bend to easily... hence why most western jewellery stores sell 14-18k i thought the same thing Edited March 26, 2018 by speckio misread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simoh1490 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 23 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said: Point of correction Pure is 24-carat and 96.2% is 23-carat not 22-carat 22-carat is 91.66% Thai gold is still 96.5%, regardless of whether you want to split hairs over the carat table - http://www.thai.nu/thaigold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ks45672 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 7 minutes ago, simoh1490 said: Thai gold is still 96.5%, regardless of whether you want to split hairs over the carat table - http://www.thai.nu/thaigold That is my understand as well It's 2.5% less pure than Swiss gold 23/24ths of being pure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattd Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, simoh1490 said: Thai gold is still 96.5%, regardless of whether you want to split hairs over the carat table - http://www.thai.nu/thaigold Correct, in another words 23K. Edited March 26, 2018 by Mattd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 A number of troll posts, nonsense bickering posts and the replies have been removed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naam Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Ks45672 said: 33 minutes ago, simoh1490 said: Thai gold is still 96.5%, regardless of whether you want to split hairs over the carat table - http://www.thai.nu/thaigold That is my understand as well It's 2.5% less pure than Swiss gold 23/24ths of being pure the difference between 100% and 96.5% used to be 3.5% when i went to school by the way... there is no such thing like "Swiss gold". Edited March 26, 2018 by Naam 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran00001 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 2 hours ago, tropo said: I'm curious to know if (real) white gold (14 or 18k) would stick to a strong magnet. They use nickel, manganese or palladium in the alloy to make white gold. Nickel and manganese are magnetic. Yes, some alloys would cause even high purity gold to stick to a magnet, but it would have to a very strong magnet, and you might struggle to notice its pull. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delight Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 7 % VAT in Thailand 20% VAT in UK Could that have anything to do with price variations? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran00001 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 7 hours ago, tigermoth said: Very cheap. Note also that 23 or 24 carat gold jewellery is uncommon in the west. It is generally about 11 or 12 carat. The reason is not to cheat people but the lower carat jewellery is far more durable. A lot of jewellery purchased in Thailand is for investment and saving reasons, not adornmemt of the body. 23 is certainly uncommon, does it even exist? 22 is common, it is what sovereigns are made from, 18 is very common in jewellery, never heard of 11 or 12, I doubt their existence, however 9 and 14 are both common. Not sure which karats are most common in the West, in the UK a lot of people keep good for base value and so tend to go for the higher fines, but then there are also the masses buying 9k Argos jewellery, who knows what there is more of out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacessit Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Gold is like a bank account to many Thais. There is also the matter of face, someone wearing lots of gold jewellery, especially heavy stuff, is deemed to be wealthy. In hard times, it is sold back or pawned, bought again in the good times. While Thai gold bullion is not 99.99% gold, it's a reasonable hedge against the Thai baht. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ks45672 Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 40 minutes ago, Naam said: the difference between 100% and 96.5% used to be 3.5% when i went to school by the way... there is no such thing like "Swiss gold". Swiss like the bars I have at home I meant But yes, gold is gold https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAMP_(company) I think they're 99.999% pure but I'm too. Lazy to check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naam Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 3 hours ago, Ks45672 said: Swiss like the bars I have at home I meant But yes, gold is gold https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAMP_(company) I think they're 99.999% pure but I'm too. Lazy to check Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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