We may earn a commission from links on this page, at no cost to you. Disclosure
Jewelry shops inside the Jewelry Trade Center on Silom Road Photo above: Jaye Jayasekara via Google
Where to buy jewelry in Bangkok depends on what you want to take home. For gold, go to Yaowarat, the main road of Chinatown, where pieces are sold by weight against a price set every day. For silver, the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand (GIT), the state gem and jewelry institute, points to Charoen Krung, the old road through the riverside districts. For fine and designer pieces, the Silom jewelry district and its Jewelry Trade Center put hundreds of counters within a short walk of each other, and the big malls trade some choice for convenience.
This guide is about finished jewelry: how it is priced, where to compare it, getting a ring sized or a piece made, and taking it home with a VAT refund. If loose stones are what you are after, our guide to where to buy gemstones in Bangkok covers the gem districts, GIT lab reports and the Buy With Confidence scheme.
Plan your trip
Gold: Yaowarat and how Thai gold is priced
GIT's Buy With Confidence program sends gold buyers to Yaowarat Road, where gold shops sell necklaces, rings, pendants and brooches one after another. MRT Wat Mangkon is the nearest station, and Wat Traimit and the Golden Buddha make a fitting first stop on the Charoen Krung side of Chinatown. Our Yaowarat guide covers the rest of the district, from street food to temples.
Thai gold jewelry is normally 96.5% gold, the national standard and roughly 23 karats, so it is purer, and softer, than the 14- or 18-karat gold sold in much of the West. The price system is also different. The Gold Traders Association announces a price for 96.5% gold per baht of weight, with separate figures for bars and for ornaments, and revises it during the day as the world gold price and the baht move. One baht of gold ornament weighs 15.16 grams. GIT's buying advice is that the price of gold, silver or platinum jewelry depends on the weight and purity of the metal, the workmanship and the design, so a piece costs the day's ornament price times its weight, plus a making charge (kha kamnet) that the shop sets.
Ask for the weight, the purity and the making charge before you agree, and keep the receipt. Our guide to buying gold jewelry in Bangkok goes further into the Yaowarat shops, tray labels and selling gold back.
Silver: Charoen Krung
GIT calls Charoen Krung the street for silver jewelry, with wholesale and retail shops side by side and pieces that buyers come for because the designs are distinctive. GIT's directions are BTS Saphan Taksin. Its buying guide also credits Thai silversmiths with the fine work in pure silver that has made Thai silver jewelry popular abroad.
The same pricing logic applies as for gold: weight, silver content, workmanship and design. Ask whether a piece is solid silver or plated, and have the silver content written on the receipt.
Fine and designer jewelry: Silom and the Jewelry Trade Center
For diamonds and fine jewelry, GIT points to Silom and Surawong roads in the financial district, lined with hundreds of jewelry shops and many of the country's leading exporters. Take BTS Sala Daeng for Surawong or BTS Chong Nonsi for Silom.
The Jewelry Trade Center (JTC) at 919/1 Silom Road, by Silom Soi 19, is the easiest place to compare finished pieces under one roof. The building says it hosts more than 300 retailers and 1,500 wholesalers, and its store directory sorts shops into fine jewelry, designer jewelry, pearl jewelry and silver jewelry as well as gemstones. It is closed on Sundays. Much of the trade in the building is wholesale, so ask whether a counter sells single pieces to visitors. For pearls, our guide to where to buy pearls in Bangkok covers the JTC pearl shops and how GIT says to judge a strand.
Malls: convenience rather than bargains
If you are short of time, the malls put jewelry next to everything else you came to buy. MBK Center has a Gold and Jewelry Zone, and Siam Paragon carries international jewelry brands, among them Mikimoto's only Bangkok boutique. Mall counters suit shoppers who want a known brand, a fixed price and an easy return to the shop if something needs adjusting. They are not where the trade's keenest prices are. See our Bangkok shopping guide for more of the city's malls and markets.
Ring sizing, repairs and made-to-order pieces
Many Bangkok jewelers will size a ring, shorten a chain or make a piece to a design, and having it done before you fly home is one of the practical advantages of buying here. A few habits keep it simple:
- Settle the price first. Ask whether sizing is included. On gold, a larger size can mean more gold, and gold is charged by weight, so get the final weight and making charge confirmed.
- Agree the date. Ask how long the work takes and leave a margin before your flight. Pay the balance when you collect, not before.
- Check before you leave. GIT advises asking for a receipt with any certificate or warranty and checking it is correct before you walk out of the shop. The receipt should describe the metal, its purity and any stones.
Stones in your jewelry, and the one scam to know
If a piece carries a valuable stone, ask for a recent report from the GIT laboratory in the ITF Tower on Silom Road or another recognized lab before you pay in full. And choose the shop yourself. The Tourism Authority of Thailand warns visitors to avoid any stranger posing as an official, or any taxi or tuk-tuk driver, who promises a special one-day sale, and says street touts offering deals that will make you rich are almost always running a scam. Our gemstone buying guide explains how the scam works and how to check a shop. If something goes wrong, call the Tourist Police on 1155.
VAT refunds on jewelry
Visitors leaving by air can reclaim Thailand's VAT on jewelry they take home within 60 days of purchase. Buy from a shop displaying the VAT Refund for Tourists sign, spend at least 2,000 baht there in one day, and ask for the P.P.10 form with the original tax invoices. On your departure date, show the goods and forms to Customs at the airport before you check in.
Jewelry has two extra rules. The Revenue Department treats jewelry and gold ornaments worth 40,000 baht or more per item as luxury goods: carry them in your hand luggage, because you must show them again at the VAT Refund for Tourists office after immigration. And gemstones without settings are not eligible, so loose stones do not qualify.
Getting it home
Keep your jewelry, its receipts, any lab report and the stamped VAT forms together in your carry-on. Before you buy anything expensive, check your home country's customs allowance for goods bought abroad, because the duty-free limit there, not Thai rules, decides whether you pay tax on arrival. Indian travelers can start with our guide to shopping in Bangkok under India's 2026 duty-free rules, and our guide to immigration and customs at Suvarnabhumi helps you budget airport time for the refund queues.
Sources: GIT Buy With Confidence: jewelry districts, GIT Buy With Confidence: buying guide, Gold Traders Association daily prices, Hua Seng Heng, 96.5% gold, Thairath, gold price and baht weights, Jewelry Trade Center, Jewelry Trade Center: hours, MBK Center, Tourism Authority of Thailand: buying gems and jewellery, Revenue Department: VAT refund FAQ, Revenue Department: VAT refund conditions, Revenue Department: eligible goods. Checked October 1, 2026.
It depends on the piece. The Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand points gold buyers to Yaowarat in Chinatown, silver buyers to Charoen Krung, and diamond and fine-jewelry buyers to Silom and Surawong, where the Jewelry Trade Center at 919/1 Silom Road gathers hundreds of shops in one building. Malls such as MBK Center and Siam Paragon are easier but rarely cheaper.
Not automatically. The gold itself is priced from the Gold Traders Association's daily figure, which follows the world gold price and the baht, so it is roughly the market rate. What differs is the making charge and the purity: Thai gold is usually 96.5%, about 23 karats. Compare the price per gram, including the making charge, with what you would pay at home.
Thai gold jewelry is normally 96.5% gold, the national standard, which is purer than the 14- or 18-karat gold common in Western jewelry and therefore softer. Buy from an established shop and keep the receipt, which states the weight and purity and which you need to sell the piece back.
On October 1, 2026, the Gold Traders Association's 22nd announcement of the day put 96.5% gold ornaments at 67,200 baht per baht of weight, which is 15.16 grams, or about 4,430 baht per gram. The shop adds a making charge for each piece on top. The price changes several times a day, so check the association's website on the day you shop.
Charoen Krung Road, which the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand calls Bangkok's silver street, has both wholesale and retail silver shops; the nearest station is BTS Saphan Taksin. The Jewelry Trade Center on Silom Road also has silver jewelry shops. Ask whether a piece is solid silver or plated, and have the silver content on the receipt.
Yes, if you leave by air within 60 days, buy from a shop showing the VAT Refund for Tourists sign and spend at least 2,000 baht in that shop in one day. Get the P.P.10 form and tax invoices and have them stamped by Customs before check-in. Jewelry and gold ornaments worth 40,000 baht or more per item must be hand-carried and shown again at the VAT refund office after immigration. Loose gemstones are not eligible.
Yes, many jewelers size rings, adjust chains and make pieces to order. Agree the price, including any extra gold charged by weight, and the collection date in writing, leave a margin before your flight, and check the piece and the receipt before you pay the balance.