Land of Gold and the Gold Jewelry in Thailand

The gold trade, which stretches back about 2000 years, was probably the first contact that Thailand had with the outside world. “Suphanburi“ (province of gold) in central Thailand and nearby “Utong“ (plentiful gold) may have been centers of the gold industry.

Gold has a religious significance for Thais. In Buddhist literature, the Buddha is described as having skin of gold. A golden complexion is the eleventh of the 32 characteristics of the Buddha. Many Buddha images in Thailand are made of gold and gold leaf is stuck onto Buddha images as a part of religious rituals. The largest Buddha image in the world is the Golden Buddha, now housed in Wat Trimitr. It is made of pure gold and weighs over 5 tons making it worth around $61 million just for the gold!!!

Today gold is an important part of Thailand's jewelry industry which is the kingdom's second largest export. The main export destinations are Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. The export jewelry, however, is chiefly gem-set using 10, 14 and 18 karat gold settings. Thailand is the second largest jewelry exporter in the world exporting officially 100 billion bahts worth of jewelry each year although this figure probably understates the true size of the industry as a large amount is smuggled out of the country to avoid taxes.

The kingdom imports 100 tones of gold on average a year. The figure could go up to 150 tones during an economic boom. About 20-30% of imports are for re-export. There are 60 gold wholesalers in Bangkok and 3 outside. Thailand has around 6000 small gold shops!

So if you are planning to spend your holiday in Thailand, apart of the Thai massage go to visit the golden mines or buy at least a small ring or chain to your beloved!

Although = ačkoliv
Avoid = vyhnout se
Baht = thajská měnová jednotka (1 Thai baht = 0.033206 U.S. dollars)
Beloved = milovaný, milovaná osoba
Complexion = pleť, pokožka
Describe = popisovat
Extensive = rozsáhlý
Figure = číslo
Gem-set = sada/y skvostných drahokamů
Housed = uložený, uskladněný
Chain = řetízek
Chiefly = hlavně, především, zejména
Indeed = ve skutečnosti, opravdu
Industry = průmysl
Jewelry = klenotnictví, šperky, šperkařství
Leaf = list
Mine = důl
Nearby = poblíž, v okolí
On average = v průměru, průměrně
Outside = vnější, venkovní
Plentiful = hojný, plodný, bohatý
Pure = čistý
Setting = sázení, zasazení, kladení, sazba
Significance = význam, důležitost, smysl
Skin = kůže, pleť
Smuggled = pašovaný
Stretch = táhnout se
Stuck = přilepený, strčený
Thai = Thajec
Ton = tuna
Trade = obchod, řemeslo
Understate = uvést méně než je pravda, zmírnit
Weigh = vážit
Wholesaler = velkoobchodník
Worth = mající cenu, cenný