sinsin2 Posted October 8, 2001 Report Share Posted October 8, 2001 Gold is weighed in Troy ounces and 14 troy ounces equal one pound avoirdupois or 16 avoirdupois ounces. A baht weight is 15.2 grams or approximately 1/2 a troy ounce (16.2 grams). 453.6 grams equal one pound. In Thailand gold is sold by the baht weight. This is subdivided into 100 satangs but it is normally found in most shops in the weight denominations of 25, 50 and 75 satangs. International standards apply to gold and they are followed in Thailand. Pure gold is defined as 24 carat gold. This is virtually never used as it is a very soft metal and just not practical for commercial applications in it's pure form. Another metal, frequently copper, is added to the gold to provide some hardness. 22 carat gold is 91.7% pure gold. 18 carat gold is 75% pure gold. 14 carat gold is 58.3% pure gold. 9 carat gold is 37.5% pure gold. The carat of the gold must be officially stamped or hallmarked on the object. The price of 100% pure gold is "fixed" every working day in both the morning and the afternoon in London by the merchant banks and that becomes the official price for settlement between the banks. It is normally also the trading price used at that time by commercial gold dealers. This price is set in US$ at the prevailing "cable" rate of exchange. Therefore to calculate the value of a gold object you use the following formula: Weight X %gold X US$ = value. One troy ounce equals 32.4 grams. For example a two baht (30.4 grams) necklace of 22 carat gold given today's gold fix price of US$258.8 per ounce: To calculate gold value you just follow these three easy steps: 1. Find the value for gold in pure form per gram $258.8 divided by 32.4 grams = $7.99 per gram for 24 carat gold. 2. Find the value for the quality of gold you are considering $7.99 X 0.917=$7.33 per gram for 22 carat gold. 3. Find the value for the piece you are considering 30.4 grams X $7.33 = $222.83 being the value of the actual gold content of this particular necklace. Compare this with the price being asked and see if it represents a fair margin. On to this value of the intrinsic value of the metal you need to add an amount for the manufacturing of the article depending on it's complexity and any relevant taxes such as VAT or sales tax. By following this simple formula you will save yourself from being cheated. Most gold shops in Thailand are very reputable and they clearly show their buying and selling prices of gold per baht on their premises. In all cases get a receipt. In Thailand the government has controls over gold prices and a seperate "fix" is made each working day that gold dealers follow. On the date this page was set up the Thailand price of gold was set at 5,500 Baht per baht (15.2 grams) and the US$ to Thai Baht exchange rate was 45.76 Baht to 1 US$. 5,500 divided by 45.76 = US$121.29 for one baht weight. The international price for the same weight was US$ 85.97 so you can see gold in Thailand is more expensive than many other countries in this case by a massive 41%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smittyjp Posted October 8, 2001 Report Share Posted October 8, 2001 Very good info. If it has to be Thai gold, I found Chinatown in BKK hard to beat. Thai gold is very expensive in a western retail shop, a 3 baht necklace goes for $840.00 U.S. as of 8 Oct. This is a flat price, no sales tax. It still represents a good deal from a retail price point of view......Doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2001 Report Share Posted October 11, 2001 I was in chinatown a 2 weeks ago. 1 baht was sold 6050bths and bought 5880+bths. About a 3%margin.How can it be then 41% more expensive than in other countries??Would be very easy to become rich by importing gold,wouldn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 11, 2001 Report Share Posted October 11, 2001 gold is 24carat in thailand BTW,it seems that with lesser purity goldsmiths will give U a real low price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thai3 Posted October 11, 2001 Report Share Posted October 11, 2001 Interesting post, can we get the same stuff elswhere then for -40%, if so where?If you are comparing the price to bars and coins that is another matter. Thai gold seems a bargain in comparison to the crap sold in most UK outlets, which is mostly 9ct and 18ct. I am pretty sure a 9 ct chain as heavy as my 2baht one would have cost more, and as you say that is only just over one third real gold.Even the Indian gold in the UK, although 22ct is far more expensive than thai.-peter  quote: Originally posted by sinsin: The international price for the same weight was US$ 85.97 so you can see gold in Thailand is more expensive than many other countries in this case by a massive 41%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted October 11, 2001 Report Share Posted October 11, 2001 Hi, Sinsin, thanks for the info. Really interesting. Would you mind if I added this to the main site (shopping page)? Full credits of course. Smittyjp said: "Thai gold is very expensive in a western retail shop, a 3 baht necklace goes for $840.00 U.S. as of 8 Oct. This is a flat price, no sales tax. It still represents a good deal from a retail price point of view......Doesn't it?" 840$? That's about 37,000 Baht. I got a 3 Baht necklace late August and that was 'only' 18,000 Baht. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 12, 2001 Report Share Posted October 12, 2001 I dont know if what your saying is true or not.however in the west you would have to factor in the costs of labor manufacturing and design.Which would be far higher then Thailand.Include all these factors in and i wager Thai gold will still be cheaper then its western counterparts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francie34 Posted October 12, 2001 Report Share Posted October 12, 2001 I baught a 1/2 baht ring for 3000 and went to my local jeweler in England to get it valued it was just over 3 times the price. As the previous writer said manufacturing costs, shop profits distrabution costs and it starts to get expensive. This may not be true of all countries but good old rip off Britian it is. Francis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted October 12, 2001 Report Share Posted October 12, 2001 There were some posts about this topic not to long ago. As I understand it, Thai gold is not pure gold, And is, per troy oz. slightly more expensive per oz than in the states etc... the savings come when it is made into jewelry. The low labor costs etc. all factor in, and make jewelry a very good bargin over all. I posted some price per Baht info about a week back, I believe it has come down a bit since, maybe back up given recent events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinsin2 Posted October 12, 2001 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2001 IMO the cheapest place for gold is Dubai. The accepted formula for fixing the price is adding freight and insurance charge as well as bank commission to Reuters gold price and then multiplying it by 0.920 for fixing the 22-carat price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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