I am curious as to why the Thai folks have chosen to have their gold bars not as pure as the rest of the world. Just wondering. Naam? Anyone out there have a clue??? I am not talking different ratios of gold in jewellry such as 14 k, 18k,etc.

Where are you buying gold bars ? The stamp on them is an international standard, and should tell you exactly the gold content. But if no stamp, no buy.

I can only guess.

From the website of Thai Gold Traders it looks like they trade 99.5 % (and 99.9% ?).

The reason might simply be the cost of production.

The more "9"s the more cost.

BTW: 99.9% is not top notch. Swiss banks sell "999.9" = 99.99%.

As far as I know you can buy these in Bangkok chinatown.

But who cares?

As long as it is stamped correctly with 995 and the amount of gold is specified (e.g. "100 g") it is OK to buy.

The most popular "gold currency" (the Kruger Rand) is only 916, but contains exactly 1 oz of fine gold.

Another aspect: the higher the percentage the "softer" the gold is and more delicate to scratches/dents.

Edited February 24, 201115 yr by KhunBENQ

Thai gold is 96.5%. Different country different %age.

Probably to do with the fact that so much of it is turned into wearable rough jewelry. Less soft. I have some gold chains i bought in Saudi Arabia. I think they are 22k or 23k as well.

I can only guess.

From the website of Thai Gold Traders it looks like they trade 99.5 % (and 99.9% ?).

The reason might simply be the cost of production.

The more "9"s the more cost.

BTW: 99.9% is not top notch. Swiss banks sell "999.9" = 99.99%.

As far as I know you can buy these in Bangkok chinatown.

But who cares?

As long as it is stamped correctly with 995 and the amount of gold is specified (e.g. "100 g") it is OK to buy.

The most popular "gold currency" (the Kruger Rand) is only 916, but contains exactly 1 oz of fine gold.

Another aspect: the higher the percentage the "softer" the gold is and more delicate to scratches/dents.

Yeah who cares as long as you're not being asked to pay the same for a 99.5 bar as the price of a 99.9..

Thai gold is 96.5%. Different country different %age.

Yes and since no other country does that I thought there may be some historically profound revelation explaining why. Could be as lannarebirth says also but it seems a lot of Thais buy the one and two baht bars...

Edited February 24, 201115 yr by bunta71