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Thailand's Gemstones: The Fabulous Kingdom of Siam
Bangkok, the "City of Angels", Thailand's capital is considered the world's leading trading center for gemstones.
My fascination for this amazing, colorful, unique and captivating metropolis, home of some 11+ millions people, started in the mid of the 90s, while studying gemology.
Gemstones have always been an integral part of this country's cultural and economic dynamics, for at least the past 1,400 years, when the very refined, progressive and cultural Kingdom of Siam extended as far as Upper Burma, Laos and Cambodia. Thailand gained a prevalent position as the leading center in the gem & jewelry industry during the 1980s thanks to the brilliant introduction of commercial heat treatment of gemstones to improve their appearance.
The extensive deposits of sapphires and rubies located around Kanchanaburi, Chanthaburi, Pailin (what is now Western Cambodia on the Thai border) and the Trat Province, consolidated its position during that period. Furthermore, the ingenious and rich Thai traders were able to import directly from Burma, its neighboring country, all of the mine's outputs of rubies, sapphires, jadeite, and other notable gemstones and work & process the raw material in cutting center like Chanthaburi, Mae Sae and Mae Sot. Another interesting cunning ability of the Thais during the 80s, was to convince the Sri Lankan miners, holders of the finest sapphires in the world since antiquity, that their ugly and worthless geuda sapphires were just that: ugly and worthless. Adding to the reputation of Thailand's emerging premiere gem center, during the 90s, hordes of Malays, Africans, Indians, Chinese, Sri Lankans, Mongolians, European, Americans & Aliens flocked to the city of Angels to be in the gem industry, buying & selling anything that was glittering, a megalithic commerce of gemstones and jewelry, establishing so Thailand to be the power country that is still today in the international gem trade.
Bang Rak, one of the 50 districts of metropolitan modern Bangkok, lying on the eastern bank of the Chao Phraya river, is where the gem district is situated. A typical day there: It is OK to feel awkward in the mornings, be careful at your wallet, don't panic in crossing the streets, make sure you have a lunch break away from the heat, afternoons feel better, @ 6:00 pm take an express boat and ride up the river to Tha Chang Wan Luang to have dinner in one of the many restaurants on the river, and enjoy Bangkok after sunset. :)
As an intuitive, Jyotish Vedic gem dealer and jewelry designer, when I started my overseas travels to Bangkok in 1997, that market was not my ideal place to pick up untreated gemstones. At that time, Bangkok gemstones were everything but untreated & natural. And the Thai dealers' ingenuity did not only stop to heat tempering, but many other treatments were introduced during the 2000s. Witnessed them all. With time, things have quite changed on the opposite direction. In all, Bangkok still retain nowadays the pole position, the original and most sophisticated hub of all of the gem & jewelry industry.
On a quite psychological & philosophical note, I had always tried to define the love and talent of Thai gem dealers to disguise, to change the appearance of a gemstones. And I would say, I came to the conclusion, after so many trips there, and this is my pure speculation, that it has everything to do with their culture & tradition. Thailand is a deeply religious Buddhist country, where tolerance and acceptance are regarded as spiritual pillars of everyday life. The transgenders women of Thailand, the Katoey, have a long history as the society third gender. They are perfectly accepted and regarded like any other human being, even by the elderly. Thai clinics and cosmetic surgeons are highly regarded worldwide for being perfectionists and skillful in transforming and modifying the appearance of the human body. Coincidence? Pure speculation my friends, but I like this idea.
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Yours, Rodolfo Ciscato
