The sparkle of Thailand Gemstones Part I

Without fuss of fanfare,a sparkling revolution has been going on in som of the remotest corners of Thailand.From beneath the parched and arid soils of Kanchanaburi in the west and Chantaburi in the east, a vast array of colored gemstones woth millions of dollas are being extracted every year by a small army of workers.

These'rough'stones are normally either sapphires of various hues or rubies,two of the most sought-after precious gems in the world today.But there are others zircons,
quarth,garnets and occasionally,even fabulous diamonds.

While the rest of Thailand busies itself with tending the rice paddies,worshipping in the temples and entertaining tourists from overseas,this quiet revolution is becoming increasingly important in the country'financial accounts.

Miners with nothing more than a pick,a shovel and a steely determination are beavering away alongside modern companies using sophisticated equipment in a concerned effort to persaude the earth to part with its precious bounty.

There's no guarantee of success,of cause.But Thailand hardly boasted a gems and jewelry



industry 15 years ago and today it ranks as one of the country's most important foreign exchange earners,And some lucky ones have indeed struck it rich.

Once the gem in its raw form has been successfully located,it is usually sold to a middleman who then arranges for it to be cut in one of the thousands of cutting factories dotted throughout Thailand.Here ,under the watchful eye of skitted cutter, the stones will be fashioned into a fabulous treasure that will eventually command a
small fortune in the chic showrooms of gem dealers in Paris,Rome,New York or London.

But this is not just a one way trail,While Thai miners labor over their diggings,
thousands upon thousands of precious stones from ever corner of the globe are pouring into Thailand:sapphires from Burma,Sri Lanka and Australia:rubies from Burma, Pakistan and the African continent :and diamonds from South Africa and Russia.

But why? Thailand is certainly not wealthy enough to buy all these valuable stones,so why bring them here,?The answer is that all these gems are not destined for the local market,They have been brought to Thailand in their raw form,to be cut
by Thais whose expertise in this delicate trade is already widely recognised,

For those"in the know,"Thailand is now the world's premier colored gem cutting nation,having long surpassed West Germany's Idar-Oberstein and other major centers
in term of both quantity and quality,But what has made Thailand's rise so utterly irresistable is the fact that this country is also one of the world'sgreatest sources of gemstones.For the first time, a major supplier is also a leading cutter.

Thailand's ascent to become such an important gem center is quite remarkable,From a single lapidary employing just 480 cutters in 1946,the industry today provides employment for as many as 600,000 Thais.This emergence from virtual obscurity has accelerated in recent years,with the cost of labor in other nations increasing dramatically and the supply of precious stons from traditional sources showing signs of depletion.In contrast,Thailand has not suffered from the ravages of inflation to the same extent as other countries,and has also continued discovering newsources of gemstones.

In 1981, more than US$300 million worth of precious loose stones were expoted from
Thailand,This may represent just the tip of a large iceberg,since records of purchases by tourists and other casual visitors are not kept,Thailand,like several other enlightened nations,decided five years ago to ease the restrictions on the import and export of gems in a bid to cut out smuggling and also to promote this still young industry.The results were effective and dramatic.Thailand suddenly came from behind in the gems race and took over first place,Its gems and jewelry industry had come of age,Dealers from every nation rushed to Bangkok with either their money of their raw gems to buy or to have their stones cut by Thailand's army of cutters.

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