Bangkok: Explore Asia’s capital of gems and jewelry

Millions of tourists from around the globe flock to Thailand, generating a major source of income for the tourism sector. However, it is interesting to know that out of trillions of baht of the tourist spending comes from gem and jewelry products.

Thailand serves as a hub for the finest gems and jewelry. A large volume of colored stones and precious metals are not only sourced, but they are also treated, cut, and polished here in this Southeast Asian heartland, primarily in Chanthaburi, Chiang Mai, Nan, Sukhothai, Surin, Kanchanaburi, Phetchaburi, and Nakhon Si Thammarat. These provinces are the home of ancient craftsmanship in the fields of gold, silver, and gemstones, while Bangkok is the major manufacturing and trading center.

Bangkok is renowned for its abundance of quarters and places where importers or buyers of gems and jewelry from around the world can have easy access. Here is just an assortment of Bangkok’s prominent gems and jewelry shopping hotspots. Bangkok is rapidly climbing to the top of the international jewelry trade, and Thai jewelers say it is partly because cutting and setting gemstones — though has been a traditional family craft — have now become an important business with world-class standards in the modern times.

Gold of Yaowarat road

There are at least 20 big and small gold boutiques around the Yaowarat quarter. If you’re looking for gold jewelry, then Yaowarat is a must. Serving as the main road of Chinatown, Yaowarat quarter offers a multitude of gold shops. Here visitors can purchase any kind of gold jewelry — necklaces, rings, pendants, and brooches. It is also notable that Thai gold often has a bright yellowish color due to the high level of purity. The 96.5% purity of Thai gold is very high by international standards. In other countries, purities as low as 18K, 14K or 9K are common.

Silver of Charoen Krung road

Dubbed the ‘City of Prosperity’, Charoen Krung road is very popular for silver jewelry people to come for unique accessories and designs. Here, visitors can find both wholesale and retail shops to make purchases, whether it be rings, earrings, bracelets, bangles, necklaces, pendants, nose studs, eyebrow rings, and toe rings. Thai silver jewelry is made from 92.5% sterling silver — the kind of silver used in Thailand — which is hypoallergenic, meaning it’s completely safe for the skin. With a fine silver content of 92.5%, Thai sterling silver has a very low chance of causing allergic reactions as alloys in this silver are not significant enough to cause skin irritation.

Diamond and Gemstones of Surawong, Silom, and Mahesak roads

If diamonds and jewelry are your favorite, then try out Silom and Surawong roads. Hundreds of elegantly decorated gems and jewelry shops are lined up along both sides of the busy roads in the heart of Bangkok’s financial district, dubbed as Thailand’s Wall Street. Besides diamonds and jewelry retail shops, you will also find many leading exporters of gems and jewelry here. Up to 400+ certified stores can be found on two sides of the three roads, offering a wide variety of high-quality diamond and polished gemstones set in jewelry for export and wholesale. They are here to fulfill buyers’ needs who aspire for the best.

Bangkok: home to jewelry of the highest quality

One of the reasons Bangkok is such an excellent destination for jewelry is that it is a primary trading hub for finished jewelry and polished gemstones of the world. Jewelry traders worldwide come to Bangkok to source finished jewelry and gemstones; and there is the whole supply chain infrastructure built up around this from the very upstream all the way to the downstream.

Discover the complete supply chain of gem and jewelry products at the 67th Gems and Jewelry Fair in Thailand. The fair will be organized between September 7 and 11, 2022 at IMPACT Challenger Hall 1-3, Muang Thong Thani. For more information, visit www.bkkgems.com.