Despite its price falling more than 10% in just two days earlier this month, demand for gold in Bangkok is on the up, as small-scale investors clamour to snap up a bargain.
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES: Buyers flock to a gold shop on Yaowarat Road after gold prices continued to fall last week.
What started as panic selling, is now panic buying, Chollathis Nualplab, research manager at Hua Seng Heng Future Co Ltd, one of the leading gold companies in Bangkok's Chinatown.
''The two-day price drop was the biggest in more than 30 years, and that prompted a lot of people to sell,'' he said. ''But now people are realising that it might be a good time to buy gold as a long-term investment.''
One of those people is Hong, a 30-year-old businesswoman who said she couldn't resist adding to her collection.
''I've been buying and selling gold bars as an investment for many years, and now is a good time to buy,'' she said.
''I monitor the trading price online. Then, when it hits a certain trigger point, I buy or sell accordingly. It's just like the stock market,'' she said.
Mr Chollathis said his research shows that the price of the precious metal is likely to fall further, but not by as much as in recent weeks.
''In the past I've seen price drops of as much as 1,000 baht per baht-weight, but this month it feel by 2,300 baht, which is about 10%,'' he said.
Hong said she has no plans to miss out on a bargain.
''For me, gold is the best way to invest. Like other Chinese-Thai people, I collect gold necklaces, rings and bracelets. If in the future I ever run out of money, I'll cash some of them in. They never lose their value.''
Besides the price slump, the recent volatility in the gold market has prompted a change in people's attitudes to gold, Mr Chollathis said.
''More and more people are buying gold for investment purposes,'' he said.
''In the past, 80-90% of the gold we sold was as ornaments, with just a small proportion in bars. But there's been a complete turnaround, and people are now snapping up bars,'' he said.
But it's not just the high-end stores on Yaowarat Road, the main artery of Bangkok's gold district, that are experiencing a surge in trade.
The owner of a shop a little away from the main hustle and bustle said business has been non-stop since the price plunge.
''We're normally this busy only at Chinese New Year,'' the proprietor, who preferred not to give his name, said. ''It's really unusual.''
Unlike at Hua Seng Heng, however, he said sales have been concentrated on gold ornaments rather than bars.
''We've been selling a lot more than we've been buying this week, though most of the trade was in ornaments. People tend to go to the bigger shops on Yaowarat Road when they want to buy gold bars,'' he said.
''Most of our customers are not really investors, they're just ordinary people who like to buy gold and hold it for the long term. If the price rises high enough, they sell.''
One downside of the price drop for the store owner is a dip in his pawn business, he said.
''Most of our profit comes from the pawn business,'' he said. ''People pawn their gold to us at whatever the going rate happens to be and then pay us interest on that value until they can afford to, or want to, buy it back.
''However, because of the fall in prices, not many people want to sell or pawn their gold.''
Among the store's customers last Friday was Muay, a 48-year-old Thai-Chinese woman who said she never likes to miss out on a good thing.
''Whenever I've saved up some money, I come here and buy gold. I don't really think of it as an investment, but in Chinese families we believe that gold never loses its value so it's a good way to save.
''The price has dropped a lot recently and I can't see it going much lower, so I wanted to buy some ornaments and some gold bars to keep as part of my collection,'' she said.
''In the future, when the price goes up again, I'll sell it. I know I'll get more than I paid for it today.''