Gem District & Jewelry Trade Center
Thailand is one of the world's great centres for cutting, heat-treating and trading coloured stones — rubies and sapphires above all. The business hides in plain sight in a few blocks around Mahesak Road, between Silom and Surawong, anchored by the Jewelry Trade Center tower.
Upstairs are dealers' offices with appointment-only doors. Downstairs, in cafés and on the pavement, stones change hands in folded paper packets — the same way the trade has worked for a century. Silom itself is known as the "Wall Street of Thailand"; this is its least visible, most portable business.
Learn to read a stone
Both of Thailand's major gem schools sit in this district and run courses open to visitors, from one-day introductions to professional identification programmes:
- GIT — the Gem and Jewelry Institute of Thailand, the national institute; also issues the certification reports the trade relies on.
- AIGS — the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences, long-established, with hands-on identification courses.
A short course teaches you to use a loupe, spot heat treatment and synthetics, and understand why two identical-looking rubies differ tenfold in price. It is also the single best defence against the scam below.
The scam — and how not to fall for it
This district is the reason for Bangkok's oldest and most persistent con. It runs like this: a friendly, well-dressed stranger near a temple tells you it's closed today for a ceremony; a tuk-tuk appears offering a city tour for 20 baht; the tour ends at a "government gem sale" or a "one-day export promotion". The stones are real but wildly overpriced, the certificates are worthless, and the driver is on commission.
- Temples don't close for surprise ceremonies. Check hours yourself.
- Never buy on the day you were introduced to a shop.
- Insist the stone goes to GIT or AIGS for certification, and pay for the report yourself.
- Thailand has no "government gem shop" and no tourist gem tax refund scheme of the sort described in these pitches.
- Decline politely — mâi pen rai, khàwp-khun — and walk on. See our phrasebook.
Practical
- Where: Mahesak Road and the sois between Silom and Surawong, Bang Rak. Jewelry Trade Center is near Bang Rak Junction.
- Getting there: BTS Saphan Taksin or Chong Nonsi; MRT Si Lom.
- Nearby: State Tower, Charoenkrung creative district, and the Charoen Saeng pork leg breakfast.