Duty-free shops in Bhutan begin selling gold to tourists

Tourists visiting Bhutan can purchase gold from the Bhutan Duty-Free shops in Phuentsholing and Thimphu. The shops started selling gold on March 1, according to a report by Kuensel Online of Bhutan.
In Thimphu, tourists can purchase the gold from the duty-free shop at Chubachu and in Phuentsholing, the duty-free shop will be temporarily housed at the Bank of Bhutan office.
Director General of Department of Tourism, Dorji Dhradhul, said that along with the regular travel documents, the tourists will be required to show two specific documents before buying the gold.
"One document is the evidence of having paid the SDF, which will be a receipt issued by the Department of Customs and the second document should be a receipt that proves the tourist has spent a night in a tourist standard hotel in Bhutan," Dorji Dhradhul said.
Dorji Dhradhul added that a tourist will be sold a maximum of 20 grams of gold.
The price of gold at the duty-free shops will be based on the global gold price.
"However, products bought from a duty-free shop anywhere in the world are cheaper, which is the same in Bhutan. The same principle will also be applied to the sale of gold. Therefore, the gold bought from the Bhutan Duty-Free shops should be cheaper compared to the normal market," Dorji Dhradhul said.