Just like one of those rides that we enjoyed as a kid. Like a Seesaw. Funny MeMe... https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yiWoWplh8BQ?feature=share
You really need to understand the gold business in Thailand. In the US jewelry is bought basically without attention being paid to commodity values. In Thailand, every piece of jewelry is weighed, and you pay the value of the gold inside of it and then a small premium. When you need money you take the same jewelry back to a store and they pay you the gold value. So "jewelry" in the western sense is not what they are really buying. In Thailand most people do not invest in financial markets. Small amounts of cash are kept in banks, large amounts are usually used to purchase land, and in between amounts are used to buy gold. Think of the US purchasing power of gold if that was the main investment vehicle. No stocks, no bonds, no cd's, just gold. We are talking tens of trillions of dollars if the US adopted the same mindset would be buying gold regularly. I am not saying this will happen, just giving you an idea of SCALE and type of demand for gold in much of the world. What Thailand does I have heard is true in most of SE Asia, rural China and India, and the middle east. When your entire life experience has been rich people stealing your investments you trust something you can hold in your hand. I have heard that the gold stores in Thailand, even at these prices, have never been busier. There is a lot more money around the world than you think. Many of my Thai friends are richer than I am, and I am richer than 95% of all Americans sir.
I think the people in Thailand are far wiser then Americans to put gold ahead of FIAT money/ BITCOIN.
Billionaire= .0000001 % But in US, top 1% make more then rest 99%.Here in Canada top 5% make as much as bottom 95%. In Russia , Putin and his oligrach elite own 99.8% of wealth.
I also have more money than the vast majority of Americans, but I also know most Americans cannot afford a good quality gold necklace anymore. It's just not mathematically possible when most Americans - or at least a large percentage - are either in debt or living paycheck to paycheck. So please understand I am not taking a dig at Thais at all. I did a basic Google search of Bangkok and I see silver jewelry businesses all over the city (I can't emphasize this enough). My main point here is that silver is taken very seriously in Thailand, with numerous businesses specifically calling themselves "silver" businesses, and just like in the U.S. silver will increasingly be used as a substitute for gold as prices keep rising. *I should note I have bought and sold Thai silver, and buy Asian-inspired jewelry. **One of the things that inspired me when I first started investing in silver was seeing Southeast Asian foreign laborers - namely Filipinos - proudly wearing thick sterling silver necklaces. It is obvious to me silver is very popular in parts of Southeast Asia.
Here is a relevant article on my thesis: https://en.moneyandbanking.co.th/2024/128921/ Osiris launches silver for investment, providing full-service gold and silver, the first in Thailand "Mr. Boonlert Siripatravanich, Chief Executive Officer Ausiris Company Limited Revealed that currently, the global investment market is significantly more interested in investing in silver because they are looking for valuable assets that can maintain their value in the long term, and silver is a good answer to this problem because silver has value in the global investment market and is also used in industry, so there is a constant demand and it can provide returns in both investment and use in the silver jewelry industry."
To be fair, most Americans do not invest at all - never mind gold and silver. Because both metals are scarce, it only takes increased buying at the margins of society - or margins globally - to cause prices to spike. I see gold as increasingly nation-state or central bank money, with some wealthy individuals being able to accumulate it in quantity. I see silver growing on the international stage, with certain cultures perhaps holding steadfastly to just buying gold as a precious metal. So yes, gold is more recognized as an investment, but the only constant in the universe is change. I see silver growing in popularity as an investment - maybe not everywhere - as an alternative that common people can afford. *ChatGPT clarified to me that gold is culturally ingrained in Thailand, which I understand. Gold is likely to remain a primary investment vehicle, particularly for the middle and upper classes. **Here's a good report on gold (and silver) investing in Thailand: https://cdn.lbma.org.uk/downloads/P.../Metals-Focus-Spotlight-on-Thailand-Feb26.pdf "In contrast to gold, silver investment in Thailand remains extremely modest, largely due to taxation policies. While gold investment products are exempt from value-added tax (VAT), silver ones are subject to 7% VAT, significantly reducing their competitiveness. However, with gold prices achieving record highs, some investors have started to diversify into silver. Over the past year, there have been ongoing discussions within the industry and government about rationalising VAT on silver to bring it into line with gold. If implemented, this could stimulate growth in Thailand’s silver investment market." ***In response to the above, it seems, as significant as inherited culture can be in influencing investments and behavior, so is tax policy. Thai tax policy is currently harsh toward silver, preventing this industry from taking more market share among investors, though some growth is inevitable as gold becomes more out of reach due to rising prices.
I'll say something a bit radical here, and this is preliminarily through my online sleuthing as well as logical deduction: silver investing is understated globally. Silver coinage was used in much of the world in modern times - which numismatists today have access to - and the global markets have moved in synchrony as they have been digitized. Silver has been declared a strategic metal - officially or unofficially - by the U.S. and China. Silver jewelry is popular in almost all of the world. I know the rhetoric is that silver as an investment is popular mainly in North America, Europe, and South Asia, but I think this is now a stretch and increasingly outdated. I know, some experts might nail me to the cross for saying this, but I think there is an either/or fallacy operating here that distorts discussions. *To be clear, I think the lines between investment and non-investment are more blurry than commonly assumed. We buy silver jewelry in part because we know silver is precious, even if just as jewelry and not as an investment vehicle per se.
I was wondering through an article that said only 10 per cent of Americans have over 1,000 or 2 thousand ounces as an individual. How do they know that?