Jewelry, gems and other rare stones
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Bangkok boats the country’s best gem and jewellery shops, and some of the finest lapidaries in the world, making this the place to buy cut and uncut stones such as rubies, blue sapphires and diamonds. However, countless gem-buying tourists get badly ripped off, so be extremely wary. Never buy anything a through a tout or from any shop recommended by a “government official” / ”student” /”business person”/ tuk-tuk driver who just happens to engage you in conversation on the street, and note that there are no government jewelry shops despite any information you may be given to the contrary. Always check that the shop is association or visiting their website (www.thaigemjewelry.or.th). To be doubly sure, you may want to seek out shops that also belong to the TGJTA’s Jewel Fest Club (www.jewelfest.com), which guarantees quality and will offer refunds; see their website for a directory of members. For independent professional advice or precious stones certification, contact the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences, located on the sixth floor of the Jewelry Trade Center Building, 919/1 Thanon Silom (www.aigsthailand.com), which also runs reputable courses , such as a five-day (15hr) introduction to gemstones (B7500) and one day on rubies and sapphires (B1500). Common scams are to charge a lot more than what the gem is worth based on its carat weight. Get it tested on the spot, and ask for a written guarantee and receipt. Don’t even consider buying gems in bulk to sell at a supposedly vast profit elsewhere: many a gullible traveler has invested thousands of dollars on handful of worthless multi-colored stones, believing the vendor’s reassurance that the goods will fetch a hundred times more when resold home. Gem scams are so common in Bangkok that TAT has published a brochure about it and there are several websites on the subject. Most victims get no recompense at all, but you have more change of doing so if you contact the website’s recommended authorities while still in Thailand.
The most exclusive of the reputable gem outlets are scattered along Thanon Silom, but many tourists prefer to buy from hotel shops, like the very upscale Kim’s in Oriental Palace in front of the Oriental, where reliability is assured. Other recommended outlets include Johnny’s Gems at 199 Thanon Fuang Nakhon, near Wat Rajabophit in Ratanakosin; and Merlin et Delaunay at 1 Soi Pradit, off Thanon Suriwong. Thongtavee, Floor 2, River City, an outlet of a famous Burmese jade factory in Mae Sai in northern Thailand, sell beautiful jade jewellery as well as carved Buddha statues, chopsticks and the like. The hub of Bangkok’s gold trade is Chinatown, specifically Thanon Yaowarat, which boasts over a hundred outlets. For cheap silver earrings, bracelets and necklaces, you can’t beat the traveler-oriented jewellery shops along Trok Mayom in Banglamphu.
