Depositing gold at Hua Seng Heng

[CallumWK]

I have decided to purchase a significant amount of gold bars tomorrow, with the intention to beat the 2% bank interests. I guess that will not be too difficult.

The gold will be bought in 5 baht gold bars, 96%.

So I have the option to store it at home, rent a safety box somewhere, or leave it at Hua Seng Heng. The latter option is free, you don't pay any storage costs, get a certificate for the stored gold, and you can sell over the phone in case you want to sell part of it in the future.

Would the latter option be recommended, or which option would you suggest?

 

[mania]

It is probably fine either way but......There is an old saying for precious metals that goes....

"IF YOU DON’T HOLD IT THEN YOU DON’T OWN IT"

 

Many reasons why but the original reason for holding metals is many don't trust paper (fiat currency etc etc) so why would someone want a certificate.

 

Secondly many claims of companies that supposedly hold things leasing them out for various reasons.

 

But in your case your using gold as a hedge & trying to beat inflation or better the 2% bank rates so again probably fine for you in any case

[Phillip9]

 

Gold has more than doubled over the last ten years.  Every time its done that before, it's declined over the next 10 years.  The time to buy gold is when no one is worried about inflation.  The time to sell gold is when everyone is worried about inflation.

[Foxx]

33 minutes ago, Phillip9 said:

 

Gold has more than doubled over the last ten years.  Every time its done that before, it's declined over the next 10 years.

 

Simply not true.  For example,

Jan 2000 - US$284
Jan 2010 - US$1078 (more than double)
Jan 2020 - US$1580 (not down)

[Phillip9]

42 minutes ago, Foxx said:

 

Simply not true.  For example,

Jan 2000 - US$284
Jan 2010 - US$1078 (more than double)
Jan 2020 - US$1580 (not down)

Correct, I should have said almost every time.

[CallumWK]

Thanks for your replies, but it seems you all missed the point of my thread.

I wasn't asking investing advice, but rather, would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?

[CalifornianInThailand]

So, what did you end up learning about the risks of depositing gold at Hua Seng Heng? And did you end up depositing it there? If not, where did you decide to store it, and why? You asked a good question, so curious as to what you learned and how you weighed the pros and cons.

[CallumWK]

On 3/16/2025 at 4:10 AM, CalifornianInThailand said:

So, what did you end up learning about the risks of depositing gold at Hua Seng Heng? And did you end up depositing it there? If not, where did you decide to store it, and why? You asked a good question, so curious as to what you learned and how you weighed the pros and cons.

 

I didn't store it at Hua Seng Hen, although I'm sure it would be safe, as they have a excellent reputation for 70 years already.

Also I was mistaken by the volume by weight gold has, and found that 75 baht of gold in 5 baht bars, fits in the front pocket of your jeans, so easy to store anywhere

[cdemundo]

On 12/28/2024 at 8:23 AM, CallumWK said:

Thanks for your replies, but it seems you all missed the point of my thread.

I wasn't asking investing advice, but rather, would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?

Discussion group, once you start a topic it's subject to tangents.

Can't be helped.

[cdemundo]

7 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

I didn't store it at Hua Seng Hen, although I'm sure it would be safe, as they have a excellent reputation for 70 years already.

Also I was mistaken by the volume by weight gold has, and found that 75 baht of gold in 5 baht bars, fits in the front pocket of your jeans, so easy to store anywhere

Another point, easy to fit in your pocket, easy to fit in the pocket of a thief.

Something to consider.

[CallumWK]

8 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

Another point, easy to fit in your pocket, easy to fit in the pocket of a thief.

Something to consider.

 

Another point, it is written on your forehead that you have gold in your pocket, or anywhere. Right?

Sounds as some are really paranoid, can't be helped

[cdemundo]

8 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

Another point, it is written on your forehead that you have gold in your pocket, or anywhere. Right?

Sounds as some are really paranoid, can't be helped

Sounds as though some are really hostile.

How does any thief find their target?

[CallumWK]

1 minute ago, cdemundo said:

How does any thief find their target?

 

By coincidence, or in some cases by insider information

[CalifornianInThailand]

Those 75 baht of gold bars can be transported in your jeans but weigh over 1 kg, so they still need to be stored somewhere. If you store them in a home safe and it gets burglarized, you have nobody to go after. Since you are sure Hua Seng Heng is safe, and you can go after Hua Seng Heng if your gold does go missing, and since you seem like a logical guy, what made you decide to not store it at Hua Seng Heng?

[CallumWK]

1 minute ago, CalifornianInThailand said:

Those 75 baht of gold bars can be transported in your jeans but weigh over 1 kg, so they still need to be stored somewhere. If you store them in a home safe and it gets burglarized, you have nobody to go after. Since you are sure Hua Seng Heng is safe, and you can go after Hua Seng Heng if your gold does go missing, and since you seem like a logical guy, what made you decide to not store it at Hua Seng Heng?

 

Because if in the future I want to sell just 1 bar, I always have to drive to Bangkok, which is a 300km roundtrip and takes the best part of a full day.

I'm sure I can sell it at a local dealer, at a small discount.

I haven't posted where it is stored, and I also will not post this on the forum, but the being burglarized is just silly.
Even if I would have 20kg of gold just stored in the cupboard, nobody will know, even not people who visit.

I live more than 30 years in Thailand, and I have never been burglarized, neither has anyone I know, so what are the chances?
Some people are scared of their own shadow, it seems

[CalifornianInThailand]

The probability of your gold being burglarized is small as long as nobody knows you are keeping gold somewhere. If ANYONE knows, someone could commit a crime worse than burglary, especially in Pattaya, which is 150 km from Bangkok, to get to it. The other risk of keeping it on a cupboard or even in a home safe is fire risk, as most home safes are fireproof for only 30 minutes. Did you consider a safe deposit box at a bank or a private company?

[CalifornianInThailand]

Also, you began this message thread by twice asking, "would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?" and then went on to conclude, "I'm sure it would be safe, as they have a excellent reputation for 70 years already." Did you arrive at your conclusion just based their having had a good reputation for 70 years, or were their other elements that helped you draw that conclusion?

[CallumWK]

I wonder why you are so curious to know where I store the gold I bought.

 

2 hours ago, CalifornianInThailand said:

The probability of your gold being burglarized is small as long as nobody knows you are keeping gold somewhere.

 

Only a real fool would brag about that he bought gold and tell anyone where he stores it. It's like putting a sign on your front gate, "gold inside".

 

2 hours ago, CalifornianInThailand said:

The other risk of keeping it on a cupboard or even in a home safe is fire risk, as most home safes are fireproof for only 30 minutes.

 

https://steemit.com/gold/@dgoldd/storing-precious-metals-will-gold-and-silver-survive-a-house-fire

 

Golds melting point is at 1064°C. Silvers is at 961.8°C.Whereas the average house fire burns at around 600°C.So at a glance it looks like both silver and gold should survive the “average” house fire.

[CalifornianInThailand]

Here is the key question: You began this message thread by asking, "would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?" and then went on to conclude, "I'm sure it would be safe, as they have a excellent reputation for 70 years already." Did you arrive at your conclusion just based their having had a good reputation for 70 years, or were their other elements that helped you draw that conclusion?

[CallumWK]

1 hour ago, CalifornianInThailand said:

Here is the key question:

 

 

I started a thread on December 26 and didn't get a single answer.

Two months later, someone who joined in 2015 but with zero post history, suddenly reiterates the thread and keeps going on about where I store my gold purchase.

To satisfy his questions, I answer that I think Hua Seng Heng is a credible source, but don't reveal where I store my purchase.

But you keep going, trying to find out where I store my purchase.

 

Here is the key question.

 

What is your agenda?

[CalifornianInThailand]

You are taking this way too personally and missing the point, which is to weigh the pros and cons of depositing gold at Hua Seng Heng. You went from asking "would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?" to concluding, "I'm sure it would be safe," so I became curious as to how you qualified Hua Seng Heng to draw that conclusion, as their good reputation is common knowledge. If your conclusion was based on careful research and logic, feel free to share them on this thread, which is one that you started. If not, and given your repeated evasion of the question, your conclusion is unsupported.

[CallumWK]

14 minutes ago, CalifornianInThailand said:

You are taking this way too personally and missing the point, which is to weigh the pros and cons of depositing gold at Hua Seng Heng. You went from asking "would it be safe to deposit the purchased gold at Hua Seng Heng?" to concluding, "I'm sure it would be safe," so I became curious as to how you qualified Hua Seng Heng to draw that conclusion, as their good reputation is common knowledge. If your conclusion was based on careful research and logic, feel free to share them on this thread, which is one that you started. If not, and given your repeated evasion of the question, your conclusion is unsupported.

 

Why you don't try to find out by yourself, or go away?

I didn't get any answers to my question, so I purchased the gold, and stored it where I thought it would be safe. 

I gave you my OPINION on your question. I haven't done any research at all, and I also never made that claim, because I purchased the gold a long time before you even entered this thread.

Feel free to post YOUR research here,

[CalifornianInThailand]

You've answered my question by saying, "I'm sure it would be safe... I haven't done any research at all."

[swissie]

On 12/26/2024 at 2:28 PM, CallumWK said:

I have decided to purchase a significant amount of gold bars tomorrow, with the intention to beat the 2% bank interests. I guess that will not be too difficult.

The gold will be bought in 5 baht gold bars, 96%.

So I have the option to store it at home, rent a safety box somewhere, or leave it at Hua Seng Heng. The latter option is free, you don't pay any storage costs, get a certificate for the stored gold, and you can sell over the phone in case you want to sell part of it in the future.

Would the latter option be recommended, or which option would you suggest?

 

So Hua Seng Heng stores it for free. Very nice. But there is no "free lunch" when it comes to store any valuables.

 

What is the Bid/Ask spread of their Gold? Have you checked? There is a good chance that they finance their "free-storage" with a wide Bid/Ask spread.

 

Again: Check it out!

 

[CallumWK]

11 minutes ago, swissie said:

So Hua Seng Heng stores it for free. Very nice. But there is no "free lunch" when it comes to store any valuables.

 

What is the Bid/Ask spread of their Gold? Have you checked? There is a good chance that they finance their "free-storage" with a wide Bid/Ask spread.

 

Again: Check it out!

 

 

Their spread is 100 baht, and their purchase price is always higher than the official price.

 

In fact, if you knew Hua Seng Heng, they probably don't physically store anything at all, as they have a huge stock on the premises at any time.

When I called them first time, they told me for up to 500 baht of gold, I can just walk in at any branch. When I went to their seacon square branch, there was a queue of maybe 50 people wanting to buy or sell gold.

Large purchases were served outside the queue, and I was 4th in line

[swissie]

33 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

Their spread is 100 baht, and their purchase price is always higher than the official price

In order to compare spreads, one would have to compare spreads in "weight/purity". The standart measure is still 1 Oz in USD.The spreads can vary widely, depending on seller or even country.

 

Hua Seng Heng sounds good to me so far.

 

Question: Is "Hua Seng Heng" a public company (listed on a stock exchange) or is it a "Family-Business"? If listed on any stock exchange I would be interested, as I have some valuables to store. If not, I would prefer to stay away from any "Family-Business", especially in S/E Asia. As "Family-Businesses" and their assets in S/E Asia can "dissapear" overnight. Judicial/Police efforts to recover funds from dissapeared businesses are practically zero.

 

Be careful!

 

[CallumWK]

36 minutes ago, swissie said:

In order to compare spreads, one would have to compare spreads in "weight/purity". The standart measure is still 1 Oz in USD.

 

We are in Thailand, so the official measure is baht, (15.244 gram), and I compare the spread with the Thai gold trader association, and other Thai gold shops.

 

39 minutes ago, swissie said:

Question: Is "Hua Seng Heng" a public company (listed on a stock exchange) or is it a "Family-Business"? If listed on any stock exchange I would be interested, as I have some valuables to store. If not, I would prefer to stay away from any "Family-Business", especially in S/E Asia. As "Family-Businesses" and their assets in S/E Asia can "dissapear" overnight. Judicial/Police efforts to recover funds from dissapeared businesses are practically zero.

 

Another one who is scared of his own shadow, If they wanted to roll it, they sure would have had many chances in the past 70 years.