Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing gold and silver here in Thailand and taxes associated with both. I thought of making this video after reading a recent comment on a prior video we made. Quoting directly: "Gold does not have to deal with VAT, silver does." Very to the point, but worth pointing out again. 

Gold in Thailand is VAT exempt. For those who have ever travelled to Thailand, especially Bangkok, if you have ever been down to Yawaraj, which is the Chinatown here in Thailand, that is sort of the epicenter of Thai gold; that is ground zero of the Thai Gold universe.

As discussed in other videos, Thai gold is not subject to VAT; it is specifically exempted. Now silver on the other hand which I know is of interest to folks - especially expats and those who are sort of interested in being shall we say independent and autonomous - silver is something that many people are finding very interesting especially in light of the fact that it does seem to be quite undervalued compared to times past. Now with regard to Thailand, again you can buy silver here in Thailand. There are actually places that sell even things like silver rounds and coins, things like that or even just bullion bars and stuff, but the thing you have to remember, VAT, you have still got to deal with it; 7% VAT, it's sort of like a sales tax. You don't have to deal with that in the context of gold but in the context of silver yes, you do. 

Should Thailand repeal it? I would kind of argue, they probably ought to. They probably have their own reasons for not doing so including major historical undercurrents, in terms of trade and the flow of gold, the flow of silver from East to West especially; you can get into going back into the Opium Wars, how silver had a massive impact on international relations between the Western powers and China so I suspect Thailand has its own reasons for why it taxes silver. 

That said, it’s worth pointing out that there is a difference between the tax rates associated with gold which has no tax effectively, and silver which is subject to VAT here in the Kingdom of Thailand.