I got family coming over and they want to sell some gold in Thailand. Now most Thai gold is close to 24 karat and you can see the prices at the shops. Now the gold in question will be 18k gold.

I got 3 questions

- can it be sold here

- where

- how to calculate the price in reference to the price for 24k gold.

Yes, you can sell it here, but you'll get a very bad price for it. Since there is essentially no resale market for it, you have to sell it to a refinery. I recommend someone like Bangkok Assay (www.bkkassay.com), but there are several different companies throughout Chinatown.

As for price, you should expect to get about 70% of spot. The very small volume they do means they do not have the extremely efficient logistics chains you see in the West. For example, compare this to refineries in the states where you can get up to 95% of spot for scrap gold. You are much better off selling it in the US if you can.

Alternatively, you can hoof it around Chinatown and try and find a small gold shop that will put it on display on the odd chance they can pawn it off to some tourist, but this is really hit and miss. Very few people would be willing to trade good cash for junk jewellery, and if they do they'll probably offer less than 70%, because they want a margin selling it to a refinery also.

I would encourage your family to sell it in their home country and bring the cash instead. They'll get a much better price. Thailand is great for Thai gold or 999 bullion. Don't bring farang gold over here. There is no point.

Greg,

Thanks i always thought that it would be easy to sell here but clearly i was wrong. Thanks ill tell them to sell it in Holland.