Originally Posted by lagcam

There are an abundance of gold shops everywhere in Thailand because many Thai people buy gold and then use it to secure short term finance. You can get immediate cash to the value of about 80% to 90% of the gold's market value, for a monthly interest of between 1.5% to 4% (depending where you do the business).

High for what is effectively secured finance, but its a high volume business with no shortage of customers.