What is baht-weight?
The Thai gold-weight standard — 15.244 grams per baht-weight
Definition
Baht-weight (`บาททอง`) is the traditional Thai unit for gold, used since the early Rattanakosin period. It shares a name with the Thai currency baht but is unrelated — the unit refers strictly to weight. It remains the standard pricing unit at every Thai gold dealer today.
Current standard values
Bullion gold: 1 baht-weight = 15.244 g exactly — the industrial standard used for official pricing and taxation. Jewelry gold: 1 baht-weight = 15.16 g, marginally lighter than bullion due to a different alloy mix designed for hardness in formed pieces.
Sub-units
1 baht-weight = 4 saleung. 1 saleung = ¼ baht-weight = 3.811 g for bullion. Smaller still: ½ saleung (⅛ baht-weight, 1.9055 g) and ⅛ saleung, used for very small jewelry pieces such as earrings.
Vs international units
International gold markets price in US dollars per troy ounce: 1 troy ounce = 31.1034768 g, equivalent to about 2.04 baht-weights of bullion. Converting world gold prices to Thai gold prices requires both the unit conversion and the USD/THB exchange rate.
Comparison
Common gold weight units
| Unit | Bullion | Jewelry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 baht-weight | 15.244 g | 15.16 g |
| 1 saleung (¼ baht) | 3.811 g | 3.79 g |
| 1 troy ounce | ≈ 2.04 baht | ≈ 2.05 baht |
| 1 ounce (avoirdupois) | ≈ 1.86 baht | ≈ 1.87 baht |