Fake gold being sold throughout Isaan, say police

Image: Thairath

KHON KAEN: Police in Khon Kaen have busted part of a gang who they say is responsible for flooding the market with fake gold throughout the north eastern region.

Two people were arrested Thursday and paraded for reporters - they were Pumpui Chamnan, 31, of Chaiyaphum who is charged with selling the fake gold to shops in the Ban Pet area and Pakorn Khamleu 40, a native of Bangkok living in Ban Pet. Police say Pakorn was producing the fake items at a rented house in the area.

Most of the fake jewelry was actually genuine silver that was coated in pure gold. Gold shop owners in the area became suspicious after several similar items came into stores and detailed checks were made.

Ban Pet police found molds and various incriminating equipment at Pakorn's house along with fake jewelry and 21 receipts from gold shops where the items would be sold on their behalf.

Pakorn was found to be wanted on three separate warrants for similar activities and is known to have changed his name three times. He is thought to have been operating in Sisaket, Sakon Nakorn, Mukdaharn, Khon Kaen as well as Ranong.

Police are expanding the investigation to arrest others who they say are involved in the scam.

Gold shop owners in the area who see suspicious items like those found are requested to contact police.

Source: Thairath

-- 2016-07-09

Thailand selling Fakes who would believe it ??

Gold shops buying fake gold........??.......how dopey are they.......?

This is not just an Isan problem...fake gold is showing up most everywhere in the world...seems fake coins are showing up more frequently in Western countries now that gold is on the rise...

Gold is easy to test.I'm surprised that gold shops actually bought the neckleaces

A shop might buy it IF: 1. they need the money. 2. they get it at the right price.

desperate times call for desperate measures, maybe. it destroys the shop's reputation, so i would assume they were on the road to closing anyhow.

What is 'fake' gold anyway? No gold sold is pure gold, it is always an alloy, and go;d plated jewelery is commonplace around the world, and also in Thailand (my GF has suppliers of exactly that around Ubon).

There is probably a crime of passing it off as real (solid alloy) to some extent rather than plated silver. Seems unlikely for the shops to miss it, so I would suspect that they are complicit in a wider scheme to defraud the public, and following a complaint, they've shrugged their shoulders and pointed up the supply chain, so to speak.

Edited July 10, 20169 yr by korkenzieher

What is 'fake' gold anyway? No gold sold is pure gold, it is always an alloy, and go;d plated jewelery is commonplace around the world, and also in Thailand (my GF has suppliers of exactly that around Ubon).

There is probably a crime of passing it off as real (solid alloy) to some extent rather than plated silver. Seems unlikely for the shops to miss it, so I would suspect that they are complicit in a wider scheme to defraud the public, and following a complaint, they've shrugged their shoulders and pointed up the supply chain, so to speak.

Your saying no Gold is real.I don't believe that.Much of the Gold I buy is 99.9999% that is real gold to me,duh.