I read on the forum that Chinatown has a good amount of them. Any other areas where gold shops have a significant presence?

Besides everywhere you mean?

Really that common eh? 

 

I used to live in BKK (BTS OnNut and also Asoke) but didn't really look for them. Next time I'm there I'll look around

Pretty much.

My wife’s favorite is the big one on the second floor of Seacon Square, but that’s pretty far from downtown.

Any big intersection on Sukhumvit and most shopping centers.

Most Lotus and Big C malls (even the smaller ones) have at least one or two.

For gems there is the Jewelry Trade Center on Silom and also the Gem Tower on Charoenkung Road. They are not far apart and both have gold shops but they are mostly for quality gems. I was just at both and talked to a man that traded gems and he said if you want gold you should really go to Chinatown, Yaowarat Road, so I did. Like it was said there are shops all around the city and most of them will sell by weight of the days market price plus the artistic value. The thing about Chinatown is there is much more stock to look at in a small area. Look for a busy shop, and you will see some are much more busy than others. I ended up not buying anything but I visited maybe 20 shops that day, but I saw a lot of people buying and some were big expensive pieces.