Queues formed at gold shops around the country on Monday after the global gold price soared to its highest in more than a year and local prices set a record high.
In Yaowarat shops, the price of bullion rose 450 baht to a new high of 30,600 baht a baht weight buying and 30,700 baht selling on Monday morning. Gold adornments rose to 30,047.12 and 31,200.00 baht, respectively.
At 1.45pm the Gold Traders Association quoted the yellow metal up 350 baht, 10 baht below the morning price announcement.
The same scenario played out in Khon Kaen province, where people waited outside shops to sell their gold and take their profits.
Ekkaluck Chanawirat, owner of Uthen shop in Muang district of Khon Kaen, said there was a steady stream of people coming in to sell their gold. He had to stock up on cash to ensure he had enough to pay them.
"Most customers came to sell, not to buy," he said.
Globally, gold prices scaled the US$2,000 a troy ounce for the first time since 2020 as investors rushed to the safety of the metal amid the escalating Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Spot gold was up 0.5% to $1,977.89 per ounce, as of 1.20pm Bangkok time, after scaling its highest since Aug 19, 2020 at $2,000.69 earlier in the day. US gold futures rose 0.9% to $1,984.40.
"Gold will likely find some heavy traffic around the $2,000 level initially, but once it is cleared, assuming no change in the Ukraine situation, it will quickly move to the $2,100 region and on to new all-time highs," said OANDA senior analyst Jeffrey Halley.
Fighting stopped about 200,000 people from evacuating the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol for a second day in a row on Sunday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press ahead with his invasion unless Kyiv surrendered.
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, rose to their highest since mid-March 2021 on Friday. Spot gold may keep rising towards $2,065 per ounce, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
