Thailand's Finance Ministry is drawing up a framework to oversee the entire gold market, linking financial records with gold transactions to help trace suspected grey money and money laundering.

The proposed system would cover online and shopfront trades, gold imports, bullion movements and physical delivery. Officials say it would allow them to follow funds from their source through to the final delivery of gold.

The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) is consulting state agencies and gold businesses before deciding the final rules, director-general Vinit Visessuvanapoom said.

Closing gaps in gold-market supervision

Vinit said the government faces two urgent problems: no single agency directly regulates the gold business, and the state does not have access to complete transaction data.

"The gold market has two problems that need urgent attention. First, no agency directly regulates the gold business. Second, the state lacks the tools to obtain complete transaction data," he said.

Without those links, authorities cannot fully establish whether money entering the financial system later moves into gold, or trace funds from their origins to their eventual destination.

The Bank of Thailand has already issued some rules supporting the government's approach, while the FPO is working with other agencies on measures to widen supervision.

Officials want records that can show whether the money and gold involved in a transaction actually exist, where purchase funds came from, and how both funds and bullion subsequently moved.

The new framework would supplement the Anti-Money Laundering Office, which already has legal authority to monitor cash transactions and other dealings that meet statutory conditions.

Online and physical gold trades linked

The ministry does not believe online gold dealing and transactions at physical gold shops can be regulated separately. Vinit said money and gold may pass through both channels in a single transaction chain.

The ministry says it wants access to essential information without placing unnecessary costs or disruption on a gold industry that remains important and popular in Thailand.

Tax is not the only possible tool

No decision has been made on a specific business tax for gold transactions. Vinit stressed that taxation was one possible way to obtain transaction records, rather than the main purpose of the policy.

"I do not want the public to worry about tax, because that may create the impression that the government is trying to raise revenue when this is a separate issue," he said.

"Tax is only one tool, but it gives us transaction data. There are several other tools, so oversight is more important in the bigger picture."

The FPO aims to complete its work as quickly as possible, but Vinit said officials must first determine which measures would genuinely close loopholes without causing disproportionate harm to legitimate gold businesses.

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1 September 2026

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4 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

Thailand's Finance Ministry is drawing up a framework to oversee the entire gold market, linking financial records with gold transactions to help trace suspected grey money and money laundering.

That is very sad.

Just do it for transactions over 10 M THB, not smaller ones.

For the average person buying, wearing, or saving in gold, daily operations will remain essentially unchanged. The effort is aimed almost entirely at large-scale, high-value conversion points where illicit cash is turned into metal to escape the banking system. If you are not trading 30+ million baht / per day in gold ... nothing will change.

3 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

Voor de gemiddelde persoon die goud koopt, draagt of spaart, de dagelijkse werkzaamheden zullen in wezen ongewijzigd blijven. De inspanning is vrijwel geheel gericht op grootschalige, hoogwaardige conversiepunten waar illegaal contant geld in metaal wordt omgezet om aan het banksysteem te ontsnappen. Als u niet 30+ miljoen baht/per dag in goud verhandelt... verandert er niets.

That remains to be seen; after all, even small private individuals may have bought a considerable amount of gold over the years, and will certainly play a role, given that gold is a popular commodity amongst Thais solely as a reserve for harder times, in which case a sum of 10 million THB could be feasible.

3 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

For the average person buying, wearing, or saving in gold, daily operations will remain essentially unchanged. The effort is aimed almost entirely at large-scale, high-value conversion points where illicit cash is turned into metal to escape the banking system. If you are not trading 30+ million baht / per day in gold ... nothing will change.

iI bet there will be plenty of gold sold in the gold shops soon with 5, 000 saliors in town.

Why does anybody think this will be limited to very large sums?
If they introduce it, you can expect a much lower limit,or perhaps even all transactions.
If they change to apply VAT to all gold transactions, then that will give them the information.
That will be a great pity if they do so. I will no longer consider buying and selling gold periodically if I am going to lose 7% x 2 each time.
FYI, requirements are already changing.
At HuaSengHeng in Chinatown considered to be the largest and most famous gold trading house and retailer in Thailand,
as recently as a week ago, if you are selling they will only give cash for 5 baht worth of gold bars. The other few million baht i was selling could only be by cheque to my bank.
They also told me that if i come back to buy large amounts then i should bring a bank cheque.
This was not the case last year or earlier.

2 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

That remains to be seen; after all, even small private individuals may have bought a considerable amount of gold over the years, and will certainly play a role, given that gold is a popular commodity amongst Thais solely as a reserve for harder times, in which case a sum of 10 million THB could be feasible.

First - Not sure why / how my original in English post is in German in yours? Second, easy to miss but that 30 Million is PER DAY.

2 hours ago, wavodavo said:

iI bet there will be plenty of gold sold in the gold shops soon with 5, 000 saliors in town

2 hours ago, wavodavo said:

iI bet there will be plenty of gold sold in the gold shops soon with 5, 000 saliors in town.

Yes, I would think that with a lot of money in Thai hands, gold sales would be brisk. Not sure what your point is, but "OK, whatever"

Anything that restricts my wife from buying gold is a good thing in my book.

6 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Anything that restricts my wife from buying gold is a good thing in my book.

At 69000 baht per Bart weight, it is not cheap now, the wife said about the only people buying gold now is for Sin Sod ,dowry for weddings.

6 minutes ago, kickstart said:

At 69000 baht per Bart weight, it is not cheap now, the wife said about the only people buying gold now is for Sin Sod ,dowry for weddings.

I'm still buying, even at 70k. Add to the stack. The gold price is only going upwards. Buy and hold. Never sell.

@jojothai 's comments above are a concern. I use Hua Seng Heng as reliable and safe. Nowadays only adding a few Baht weight each time. Cash is king, but gold? Priceless!

11 hours ago, wavodavo said:

iI bet there will be plenty of gold sold in the gold shops soon with 5, 000 saliors in town.

Why would US sailors buy 96.5% gold, which they will have a problem selling in the US? And 99.9% is only available in 1kg bars at selected shops

5 hours ago, CallumWK said:

Why would US sailors buy 96.5% gold, which they will have a problem selling in the US? And 99.9% is only available in 1kg bars at selected shops

I was referring to the dailor boysm buying gold for theit boy / girl friends as a farewell gift.

No more privacy for the gold-trade. Just another sad change in the Thai scene.