Gold 101 For Dummies

[sorensen]

Other treads have already discussed the price of gold, so lets skip that part. You have decided to buy your first 10 baht of gold, but how do you actually do this?

Do you just walk into any gold shop and get your gold or are there things to watch out for?

Do you buy manufactured gold (brace or necklaces) or a bar of gold?

How pure is 24 carat gold? 99.9…% and how can you make sure you are not just buying some gold plated lead?

How can you make sure the scale at the gold shop is not rigged so you only get 9.8 baht of gold?

A few years from now when you decide to sell again, will any gold shop take your gold or do you have to go back to the shop where you bought it from?

[teatree]

Other treads have already discussed the price of gold, so lets skip that part. You have decided to buy your first 10 baht of gold, but how do you actually do this?

Do you just walk into any gold shop and get your gold or are there things to watch out for?

Do you buy manufactured gold (brace or necklaces) or a bar of gold?

How pure is 24 carat gold? 99.9…% and how can you make sure you are not just buying some gold plated lead?

How can you make sure the scale at the gold shop is not rigged so you only get 9.8 baht of gold?

A few years from now when you decide to sell again, will any gold shop take your gold or do you have to go back to the shop where you bought it from?

A bar is the way to go as there is only a 100 baht per baht of gold difference between the shop selling price and the price they will buy it back from you. For necklaces, rings etc there is usually around an 800 or so baht difference.

However, there is currently such demand that I have heard there is a waiting list to get the bars.

Go to a reputable shop and I very much doubt they will rip you off - Hua Seng Heng at is the shop I go to, they have several shops around Chinatown. If you buy bars and then later want to sell, they will pay you back at the advertised price without any fuss. For jewellery the price they will pay is more negotiable. You should be able to take the gold to any shop to sell it.

Here is a link to a Thai gold price website

http://www.goldtraders.or.th/index.html

[12DrinkMore]

Any places outside of BKK selling gold bars? I went around my neck of the woods and nobody has any solid bars of any size.

[bobbin]

Pretty sure that somewhere in those other gold threads it was said you can buy European, i.e. UBS, bullion.

That's the way to go if possible to keep all your options open. If you buy Thai bullion you pretty well must sell it here also.

[kiakaha]

Other treads have already discussed the price of gold, so lets skip that part. You have decided to buy your first 10 baht of gold, but how do you actually do this?

Do you just walk into any gold shop and get your gold or are there things to watch out for?

Do you buy manufactured gold (brace or necklaces) or a bar of gold?

How pure is 24 carat gold? 99.9…% and how can you make sure you are not just buying some gold plated lead?

How can you make sure the scale at the gold shop is not rigged so you only get 9.8 baht of gold?

A few years from now when you decide to sell again, will any gold shop take your gold or do you have to go back to the shop where you bought it from?

go with gold futures instead.

[gregb]

If you aren't concerned about owning physical gold and just want exposure to the yellow metal in your portfolio, a very easy way to do it is just walk into any Thai Military Bank and open up a Gold Fund Account. You'll have to be persistent, as these guys will tell you the fund is closed. Doesn't matter what fund it is, they always say it is closed. That's just because they don't know how to do it. Have your mobile phone handy and call the TMB Asset Management head office and hand the phone to the bank employee.

Once you've successfully opened your account, you get a bank book and an ATM card you can use to deposit/withdraw funds at any TMB Branch or ATM. The fund is linked directly to the SPDR ETF (Used to be Street Tracks. NYSE symbol GLD), but the only issue is that the exchange rate isn't calculated until the close of trading in NY. That means if you buy, you're not exactly sure how many shares you got until the following morning. So it's not exactly the same as having a brokerage account overseas. You can't really use it for day trading.

You can look up the prospectus here if you're interested.

http://www.tmbam.com/v1/en/mutualFundsDeta...27&accept=1

I have no relationship to this fund, other than pointing out an interesting way of investing in gold easily from Thailand that many people are not aware of.

[JimSiam]

If you aren't concerned about owning physical gold and just want exposure to the yellow metal in your portfolio, a very easy way to do it is just walk into any Thai Military Bank and open up a Gold Fund Account. You'll have to be persistent, as these guys will tell you the fund is closed. Doesn't matter what fund it is, they always say it is closed. That's just because they don't know how to do it. Have your mobile phone handy and call the TMB Asset Management head office and hand the phone to the bank employee.

Once you've successfully opened your account, you get a bank book and an ATM card you can use to deposit/withdraw funds at any TMB Branch or ATM. The fund is linked directly to the SPDR ETF (Used to be Street Tracks. NYSE symbol GLD), but the only issue is that the exchange rate isn't calculated until the close of trading in NY. That means if you buy, you're not exactly sure how many shares you got until the following morning. So it's not exactly the same as having a brokerage account overseas. You can't really use it for day trading.

You can look up the prospectus here if you're interested.

http://www.tmbam.com/v1/en/mutualFundsDeta...27&accept=1

I have no relationship to this fund, other than pointing out an interesting way of investing in gold easily from Thailand that many people are not aware of.

I would rather have something i can hold, not just a piece of paper issued by a bank that has changed its name after it nearly went broke as its former name.

[Scott]

So how do you buy the Maple Leaf coins here?

[Marvo]

I have been told that "farang" gold is harder to sell and get a good price for in Thailand, can anyone confirm? I know Thai people like their "Thai" gold.

[Briggsy]

Buy an ETF on a reputable stock exchange.

Advantages.

No risk of theft of physical gold

No storage charge of physical gold.

Very low management charges.

Can be bought and sold at a moment's notice from the comfort of your own home online.

No problems with "Thai" gold vs "international standard" gold.

No chance of being sold underweight or impure gold.

It's the obvious solution for most small investors.

Here's a link to a gold ETF quoted on the London Stock Exchange.

http://www.h-l.co.uk/shares/security_details/sedol/B1VS377

[Khun Jean]

That you can not sell 'Thai' gold somewhere else is just a false statement. Gold = Gold = Gold.

People in the trade have equipment to establish gold content, it just takes a few seconds/minutes.

Thai juwelry has a high markup once it is outside Thailand.

Thailand is probably one of the best countries to buy gold as it is so common. People know the value, believe in its strength compared to paper and it has a long history.

Gold will always be a recognised currency. The same can not be said of fiat paper. That is only forced upon the people.

[gregb]

I would rather have something i can hold, not just a piece of paper issued by a bank that has changed its name after it nearly went broke as its former name.

As do I but many people don't care. There are people who are quite happy to have the convenience of paper, even with the risk it entails.

[gregb]

Why go through all that trouble, when they can open up a discount brokerage account and just buy the EFT GLD from here? And then they can use it for trading if they so desire. Seems a lot simpler.

For some people it would be, however funding an overseas trading account from a Thai bank is not a trivial task. A Thai national for example can't simply walk into a bank and wire money into an overseas brokerage account, and the money laundering provisions make it difficult to fund any other way. Yes, it is possible to carry cash across the border to Cambodia, open an account and send it from there, but again, that requires some time and effort.

If all your money is offshore, then I would agree with your sentiments. If your money is in Thailand however, the Thai foreign exchange accounts do make things simpler.

[gregb]

So how do you buy the Maple Leaf coins here?

You head to the airport, catch a flight to Singapore, and then go to Mustafa Centre.

Thailand doesn't do coins. Bullion only.

[Scott]

Thanks. I would rather have an internationally valued coin, such as the Maple Leaf than Thai buillion. I know gold is gold, but I think it would be easier to unload coins than bullion--especially for those of us that don't usually deal with gold.

[cloudhopper]

So how do you buy the Maple Leaf coins here?

You head to the airport, catch a flight to Singapore, and then go to Mustafa Centre.

Would kilo bars likely be available here too?

[LivinLOS]

I would do perth certs (western Oz gov) or BullionVault.com allocated account.

Both cases you can claim delivery if required but no theft risk, no essaying issues, etc etc etc

[simcity]

Other treads have already discussed the price of gold, so lets skip that part. You have decided to buy your first 10 baht of gold, but how do you actually do this?

Do you just walk into any gold shop and get your gold or are there things to watch out for?

Do you buy manufactured gold (brace or necklaces) or a bar of gold?

How pure is 24 carat gold? 99.9…% and how can you make sure you are not just buying some gold plated lead?

How can you make sure the scale at the gold shop is not rigged so you only get 9.8 baht of gold?

A few years from now when you decide to sell again, will any gold shop take your gold or do you have to go back to the shop where you bought it from?

Said you want Thai gold after you decide not to buy G.O.L.D on the stock market or any of the gold mines & no certificates or physical gold from perth mint …

Or you already have all this one and want to diversified !

All my purchase was made in china town (yaowarat as spell in thinknet mapmagic)

Gold have stamps, who are different from shop to shop.

one of this shop will give you a certificate (100 baht) and are reputable for resale value

It is not 24 carat you buying

Content on the gold bar is bit higher as necklace jewel

I did ask once to have something made, cost me more for it

You can ask to have it tested in the shop, the lingo will have the shop stamps on it, if it is gold / lead it will be know soon by the public

Rigged: the necklace will be sell by weight, 1-2-3 bahts = the scale will have to show the grams for 1-2-3 bahts

It is better to take it back to the same shop, but I had sold gold from one shop in yaowarat to a different one without problem.

[LivinLOS]

I would do perth certs (western Oz gov) or BullionVault.com allocated account.

Both cases you can claim delivery if required but no theft risk, no essaying issues, etc etc etc

I heard that a few months ago, that the Perth mint could not make delivery for at least 6 months. Does not exactly instill confidence now does it. Really cant beat having it within your reach.

No it doesn't satisfy those that buy gold against a total failure of economic systems.. However the delays in delivery were worst for silver (which I think will outperform gold substantially in the mid term) and they was of course no problem at receiving that days spot price for gold at any time.. Its not like someone was waiting 6 months to liquidate an investment.