Thailand's finance ministry is considering a tax on online gold transactions and will explore measures to limit trading volumes by the biggest traders, officials said on Tuesday, as they try to tackle a surge in the baht currency.
The baht has gained by 10.3% against the dollar so far this year to become Asia's best-performing currency, and it is now at its highest level against the dollar in more than four years.
The baht's rapid appreciation has undermined the competitiveness of the export and tourism sectors in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, which has been struggling with multiple challenges like U.S. tariffs, high household debt, a border conflict, opens new tab with Cambodia and political uncertainty ahead of elections on February 8.
Traders selling gold, which has climbed more than 70% this year, in dollars in foreign markets are then selling the U.S. currency for baht.
Senior finance ministry official Lavaron Sangsnit said the revenue department would look into imposing a specific business tax on gold trading conducted via online platforms, and would also consider new rules to force such platforms to report transaction data to tax authorities, similar to existing e-commerce platforms.
The central bank will also study measures to cap the volume of transactions on digital gold trading platforms, he said.
GOLD TAX COULD HURT SECTOR, MIGHT NOT COOL BAHT SURGE
Gold traders have expressed their opposition to any tax on gold trading, saying it would harm the sector.
"If a tax is imposed, gold trading will likely decline, and there could be a broad impact as online trading is very large," said Jitti Tangsithpakdi, president of the Thai Gold Traders Association.
"There was no mention of this yesterday," he said, referring to a meeting the association held with the central bank.
Poon Panichpibool, market strategist at Krungthai Bank, said that while the measures might help the baht somewhat, they would not solve the problem.
"Even if a tax is imposed, if people still see upside, they will keep trading," he said.
"It depends on how strong the upside for gold will be. If I have to predict, next year gold trading will likely drop anyway because the upside is reducing".
BAHT'S RISE 'NOT REFLECTING ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS'
The Thai baht's gains against the U.S. dollar are being driven by "huge" gold trading volumes, with its rise not in line with fundamentals, Central Bank Governor Vitai Ratanakorn told the same briefing.
Source: Reuters
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
