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Published: March 16th 2010
This will probably be one of the few real reports from Chanthaburi, most people confuse this town with Kanchanaburi. Chanthaburi is renowned for its gemstone market and this was the reason of our visit.
Two years ago we passed through on a bus to Trat on our way to Cambodia and saw the signs for the gemstone market. Having decided to return to Cambodia this year we thought that we would stop for a day and visit the markets. As it happened we didn´t arrive until the late afternoon so decided to stay an extra day.
We walked from the bus station down to the river and the Riverside Lodge (not quite to 300m walk shown on the map but still within walking distance. Lovely, friendly staff and we quickly settled into our 250bt/ night fan room (+TV). Dinner no longer served here but after shower and a couple of beers at sunset we headed downtown and found a local cafe that cooked us up a couple of dinners (1 pork, 1 prawn), 2 beers and 2 icecreams for a total of 187 bt!
The decision to stay was a great idea as we had one our most
interesting days ever. We strolled around the gem markets and were made most welcome. A couple of Indian traders explained the basic process to us and allowed us to watch as they bought their gemstones. We then moved on and found a shop where they were manufacturing jewellry and we were allowed to watch and photograph the process. The next people we met were a group of Afghans who were most impressed that Jill had visited their Country as a tourist 40 odd years ago. Mahommed had the best English and was most accommodating in explaining the bargaining/buying and settlement processes in more detail. I ran into Mahommed again later in the day and he assured me that 2 or 3 days alongside an experienced buyer would see most people able to work in the buying room. The process of buying and selling is involved and requires a level of trust but the final settlement only occurs after the stones are checked by an independent source (for a % commission of the sale price).
After some lunch we then spent some time with a Thai couple and one of their buyers. They operated slightly differently and were unbelievably quick
in making decisions and seemed to be the biggest buyers in the dealing room we were in. As opposed to the previous room in this room the buyers assessed the genuineness of the stones themselves.
On my way back to the guesthouse I was called over by a Thai buyer who wanted to know where I was from. It turned out that he had gone to a school near to us in NZ in 1971 and so we had a good chinwag about the changes in the country, especially politicians!
This has got to be great place to break your overland journey to Cambodia and minibuses run 3 times a day from here through to the border (150 bt).
In answer to the obvious question - we bought a couple of reasonably priced stones here but there is no pressure to buy but plenty of opportunity for a good purchase - BUYER BEWARE!
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Brooke
non-member comment
The obvious question
Dad, the obvious question is "Did you buy me any jewellery?"