Ministry addresses rash of fake gold
PUBLISHED : 23 Mar 2024 at 04:44NEWSPAPER SECTION: Business
WRITER: Phusadee Arunmas
![Gold ornaments are inspected at a gold shop in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok on Friday. Gold ornaments are inspected at a gold shop in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok on Friday.](https://static.bangkokpost.com/media/content/dcx/2024/03/23/5096168.jpg)
The Commerce Ministry is advising people to buy gold bars and gold ornaments from certified stores with visible locations following an outbreak of counterfeit metal as prices spike.
Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisunpang led officials from the Department of Internal Trade (DIT), the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT) and the Office of the Consumer Protection Board (OCPB) to inspect gold shops in the Yaowarat area of Bangkok to ensure sellers abide by the law and reject fake gold as prices rise.
The price of gold ornaments reached a record high of 37,500 baht per baht-weight, prompting some online gold shops to take advantage by selling fake gold in various forms, particularly gold bars.
Referred to as "stuffed gold" in a translated Thai term, these fake gold bars are actually copper or lead gilded with a layer of real gold.
Buyers cannot determine whether a gold bar is real by looking at it with the naked eye because of the coating and the alternative metal having a similar weight.
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