After two years of strip mining, land is nearly depleted of precious zones

No one passes through eastern Chanthaburi and Tratprovinces in Thailand unnoticed.

Drivers are stopped at police and military checkpoints. Car trunks are searched and

questions asked: "Where are you going? What are you doing here?"

Policemen may conclude the interrogation by offering tourism tips, then add with

a smile: "Let us know if we can be of any service while you're here."

Tourism is still finding its feet in a region dominated by gems and by its symbiotic

relationship with Cambodia. There's a mountain range in the way, but thousands of

independent gem miners make their way back and forth across the border, braving land

mines and malarial mosquitoes.

A couple of years ago, the roads at several border checkpoints-heavily guarded by

the Thai military-were widened to accommodate the large trucks and bulldozers of

Thai mining concerns. The Thai miners have been paying guests of the Khmer Rouge,

which concentrated its power in the gem regions of Pailin and Samlot.

Questions have been asked about these business arrangements and the support they

give to the Khmer Rouge. Somchai Niyomkit, Democrat MP for Chanthaburi, owns the

biggest cutting factory in the province and supplies stones to Sawang Export, one

of Thailand's largest jewelry firms. Although not a miner himself, Somchai defends

the right of Thais to mine in Cambodia. He pointed out that the Khmer Rouge are recognized

by the United Nations as a legitimate faction.

"It's not illegal," he says. "We're registered with the government

in Cambodia." Problems in Cambodia are not Thailand's concern, Somchai adds.

"I don't care about Cambodia's business," he says. "I care about my

business."

The polished gem trading district of Chanthaburi is highly sophisticated compared

to the rough stone market of Borai, a tiny border town in Trat province. The policemen

here carry M-16s. The only hotel, the Honey Inn, is a notorious brothel, and the

dusty streets turn to mud in the rainy season.

Ramshackle shop-fronts line the main street, where up to 1,000 wildcat miners

and brokers crowd the footpaths every morning to trade rough stones.

This is mining country, and even the elite have callouses on their hands. The gem

miners are mostly self-made men who are keen competitors but friends-a loosely knit

fraternity of high-stakes gamblers.

Pairot Bunrit is president of the Borai gem traders association.

Two years ago, when Pairot started his Cambodian venture, the Thai miners had to

walk to the mining site in Samlot. "It took three days. All the equipment had

to be carried," Pairot said. About a year ago the road was widened, so heavy

equipment can make the journey when it is dry.

Most of the Thais at Samlot paid 10 million Thai baht (U.S. $250,000) for their concessions.

The terms of the contract, however, are flexible; some paid as little as 300,000

baht, others as much as 20 million baht (U.S. $800,000).

"If you know someone high up in the Khmer army, and you've ever helped them

out, then you get a good price," Pairot said. "If you have a very good

connection you don't have to pay anything."

Every 10 days Pairot visits his mine when the jigs are opened and the gems are examined.

He sets a price and pays the Khmer Rouge 45 percent of the total. "You can't

cheat them-they know the price," he says. "If you bargain too hard, they

will just take the stones."

Pairot has 20 workers at the site and two bulldozers. His daily operating expenses

come to 30,000 baht (U.S. $1,200). Meanwhile, the price of rough rubies has fallen

10 percent or 15 percent from last year.

Eight or nine large Thai companies now have mines at Samlot, Pairot says. "They

have subcontracted by selling off parts of their plots to other Thais," he says.

The rubies from Samlot are good quality, "better than Thai," he says, but

they are almost depleted from the site.

Pairot is worried about where he will mine next. He first ventured into Cambodia

because rubies were becoming scarce in the available land around Borai. "When

we pull out of Cambodia we will have to look around more here," he said. "Once

the problem with the Cambodian political situation is settled, the Thai military

can open the border area for mining. There are a lot of gems there, but it's off

limits now."

Leaving Borai and heading towards the border, the road turns into a rutted, dirt

track requiring a four-wheel-drive vehicle. Ban Ta Bat, a small collection of shacks

at the foothills of the mountains, is the last stop before the Thai military checkpoint,

just across the border from Samlot.

Individual miners, carrying their homemade washing trays of bamboo and wire mesh,

can be seen panning in the streams or returning home from Cambodia.

The most important miner in Ban Ta Bat is Sia Awn, who lives in a simple house decorated

with carved murals of Angkor Wat and other Cambodian souvenirs.

Sia Awn is young, but his tanned face is weathered and crinkled with smile lines.

He looks like a farmer, and he thinks of himself as one. "Being a miner is like

being a farmer," he says. "It's hard to get rich as a miner. The middleman

gets rich. I don't know the stone market well. I don't have good connections-I'm

too busy working in the jungle."

Sia Awn began mining in Cambodia 10 years ago. "I started off with just a shovel

and my own hands. You didn't have to pay anything then," he says. "You

just hid in the forest. If the Khmer Rouge found you, they took everything from you-your

money, equipment, everything. You had only your underwear left."

As Sia Awn became more successful, he hired workers. Twenty of his men were injured

over the years, most losing a leg to land mines. Six or seven died.

The peak period for mining at Samlot was three years ago, Sia Awn said. At that time,

he started using water cannons to blast the soil into separation jigs. Water was

not a problem since the mining area lies by a river, but the vacuum pumps for the

water cannons needed fuel. Sia Awn needed 200 workers to carry the petrol in each

day. It was gruelling, dangerous work, and Sia Awn had to pay each man 1,800 baht

(U.S. $72) a trip.

Still, he made a good profit. In one two-month period during the rainy season he

collected rubies worth three million baht a day. The average was 500,000 baht (U.S.

$20,000).

"That time was better," Sia Awn recalls fondly. "There wasn't so much

investment for equipment. For the contract I have now I paid 10 million baht. I use

a bulldozer, which cost me another 2.5 million baht." He also pays the Khmer

Rouge for 45 percent of his finds.

He must sell all the gems he mines immediately so that he can cover his expenses.

His 20 workers earn between 3,000 baht (U.S. $150) and 15,000 baht (U.S. $600) a

month, depending on skill.

"It's harder to find the stones now. There was only one place that was 10 times

better three years ago. There are other areas nearby with gems, but the Khmer Rouge

won't open them. They don't have enough people to control a bigger area," says

Sia Awn.

It is harder to make a profit these days, but Sia Awn says he has no plans to change

careers.

"It's like a drug," he says. "I can't stop. Today, maybe I won't get

any money; tomorrow, maybe I'll get rich. It depends on the stars. You never know

your luck."

Like many of the miners in Tambon Nong Ben, just north of Borai, Sia Pae was eager

to try his luck in Pailin two years ago when the border crossings were upgraded and

the Khmer Rouge began offering concessions.

He was soon disappointed. "It wasn't worth it," he says. "I invested

10 million baht, but I only got two million in stones."

After pulling out of Pailin he opened a mine in Samlot, this time investing less

and negotiating better terms in his contract. He paid 3 million baht for the right

to mine for six months over five blocks of land. He does not have to pay an additional

45 percent for the gems he finds. "It's better to just pay a flat rate,"

he says. "I don't want to have to share what I find."

Still, he is losing money, Sia Pae admits. "I have six bulldozers there, and

30 workers. My expenses are 60,000 baht a day."

All the Thai miners in Cambodia are losing money, he says. "Everyone will pull

out very soon. In three months there will be no stones left. The Khmer Rouge won't

open any more land and the Thais are afraid to invest more."

Sai Pae said his mine in Nong Bon has much lower overhead and yields more gems. Still,

he could not resist trying his luck in Cambodia. "I wanted to get rich,"

he says, smiling. "If you happen to get a very good block of land you can get

a lot of stones. It's very risky-you can't test the soil in advance-but you have

to try."

Tambon Nong Bon is also home to Paitoon Sarakhet, known by everyone as Sia Jik, the

biggest miner in Trat and Chanthaburi.

Sia Jik, 45, compares the Thai mining invasion in Cambodia to the California gold

rush.

"Everybody was talking about how much money you could make in Cambodia if you

invested a lot," he says "They said you need to spend 10 million baht and

buy a lot of heavy equipment, but that's not true. The land over there is not suitable

for bulldozers because there aren't enough stones. Actually you shouldn't spend more

than 1 million baht if you want to make a profit."

Many of the Thais who opened mines in Cambodia had limited mining experience and

did not know the land well, Sia Jik says. He also mines in Cambodia, but he invested

little. He started in Pailin but closed that operation a year ago and moved to Samlot,

which is better, he says. He limited his investment to water cannons and only 10

workers.

"There are still a lot of rubies in Cambodia, but everybody has already spent

a lot of money and there is a limit to the land open for mining, so they have to

come back," Sia Jik says. "All the Thais will pull out soon. I'll pull

out, too. Actually, I don't need to mine in Cambodia because I have many mines in

Thailand. I just wanted to get to know the land in Cambodia, that's all."

Sia Jik slowly upgraded his equipment. "I bought little by little," he

says. "Ten years ago I started mining on a large scale. I invested a lot. I

now have eight bulldozers and three tractors."

His most profitable mine, in Nong Bon, produces stones worth two million baht a month;

outgoings are about 30,000 baht a day.

"Miners fail for several reasons," Sia Jik says. "One, they don't

know how to do it well. Secondly, when they get money they don't know how to spend

it. They buy a house in Chanthaburi or Bangkok. You can't do anything with a house.

When I got money I bought more land in good mining areas. That's why I'm successful.

I have enough land now to keep mining for the next 10 years."

Carol Clarke is managing editor of JewelSiam magazine. This story is reproduced by

permission of Jewelry Trade Publications, Bangkok.