Page 35 - Experience Thailand and More
P. 35
NEARBY
ATTRACTIONS
Gem Street
Srichan Road, Wat Mai, Chanthaburi
(+66) 39 303 118 - 9
Open Friday - Sunday from 10.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m.
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There are annals dating as far back as the 15 century describing the So, still today, on weekends, the streets of Trok Kachang and Srichan
dazzling gems to be found in the southeast region of Siam, today, are transformed into an international gem trading fair with makeshift
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the provinces of Trad and Chanthaburi. In the 19 and early 20 tables set up along the sidewalks where venders display their rough
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centuries, the area was an important source for sapphires, but when cuts and polished gems and buyers walk along until they find what they
Burma shut its doors to foreigners in 1962, Chanthaburi replaced it are looking for. Then, the negotiations start, and they can become quite
as the capital for shimmering crimson and scarlet rubies. Over the heated. Meanwhile, in some of the shops behind, artisans can be seem
next forty years, the supply quickly depleted, but the locals were transforming rough stones and nuggets into shimmering gems and
smart and by then had established Chanthaburi as an international jewelry.
precious and semi-precious gems market as well as center for the
cutting, burning and polishing of these stones.
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