Thai Gold dealer reports revenue eclipsing the country's national budget

Demand for gold is so strong in Thailand that revenue at the country’s largest gold trading house is on pace to eclipse the government’s entire fiscal 2026 budget.

This underscores the surging demand for gold in Asia that continues to support the gold bull market.

Hua Seng Heng is on pace to earn a record 5 trillion baht ($156 billion) this year. That compares to the Thai government’s 2026 budget of 3.8 trillion baht.

As Bloomberg described it as a testimony to “the sheer number of residents in the Southeast Asian nation embracing the precious metal as a store of wealth amid low interest rates and a lackluster stock market.”

Hua Seng Heng CEO Tanarat Pasawongs said October was probably the best month in the company’s 75-year history as the price of gold exploded above $4,000 an ounce.

“Some of our shops stayed open until almost midnight and our online subscribers doubled.” 

Geopolitical concerns and the potential economic impact of tariffs on the Thai economy have also driven people to gold. The current escalating military conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia may also be encouraging people to hold more gold.  

Thai people have a historical love affair with gold, and they view it as a store of wealth. Pasawongs said, “It’s been ingrained since childhood for Thai people to buy gold when they save enough money.”

Bloomberg put it this way:

“The surge underscores how gold, long a traditional Thai savings tool, is becoming central to household wealth in the face of growing economic uncertainty. With Thai stocks delivering negative returns and interest rates near record lows, the precious metal has become one of the few bright spots for retail investors.” 

In baht terms, gold has averaged a 10 percent annual return. That exploded to 70 percent last year and has driven even more people to buy the yellow metal. 

According to the Thai Futures Exchange, Thai gold demand is on pace to gain 10 percent this year. Based on World Gold Council data, Thailand is the only country in the world to have posted four straight years of gold demand growth through the COVID pandemic. 

China and India rank as the top two gold-consuming countries in the world, and they tend to dominate the headlines. However, investors in other Asian nations, including Vietnam, South Korea, and Thailand, are gobbling up gold. This has supported the recent gold bull rally, even as many American investors were selling gold.

Asian demand doesn't seem to be ebbing. Asian ETFs dominated global gold inflows last month, and after falling modestly this summer, Chinese gold demand picked up significantly in September and October. Meanwhile, Indian officials reported strong demand during the country's festival season.