The venue—a restaurant and bowling alley—was not too impressive. But that did not stop the buyers from coming to Thai Basel ’91, where many of them placed significant orders with the 26 Thai exhibitors.

            The Thai Basel tradition started last year at Warteck Restaurant with 16 members of the Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders’ Association. A total of 1,000 buyers found their way to the Thai exhibit, situated across the street from the official European Watch, Clock and Jewelry Fair.

            This April, the traffic at the Thai exhibit tripled, with 3,000 buyers passing through. Many of the European buyers remarked that they would like to see a larger exhibition from Thailand, with bigger variety of goods.

            Although banned from the official fair, due to the lack of intellectual copyright protection in Thailand and other trade issues (see related story), the Thais are making the most of their unofficial exhibit.

            “In the main fair, we’d be lost as one of thousands,” remarked Vichien Opassathavorn of Thompson Brothers. “Here, we’re one of 26.”

            Anuchit Medhaseth, marketing director of Nature Creation, agreed, “The main fair has too many booths. It’s too spread out and hard to look for customers. Because we’re in a separate location, people know we’re here so they come to see.”

            In spite of the advantage of a separate location, most of the exhibitors commented that they would prefer to join the official fair.

            “Do you think that we want to be in a bowling alley? No, we want to be in the official fair,” remarked Jerry Weiss of Fabricant (Thailand). “I’d rather be in the main fair because there’s legitimacy to it, while being off site ads to the illusion that Thailand is an outlaw.”

            During the early days of the Thai exhibit, traffic was light and the Fabrikant booth appeared to have a poor location—downstairs next to the bowling alley lane, which was temporarily carpeted over for the fair. But by day three of the eight-day event, things started picking up.

            “I did an order for US$1.5 million with a new customer from Germany. I’m happy,” Mr. Weiss said.

            Other exhibitors’ reporter mixed results, from “so so” to “fantastic.”

            “We’re making a lot of good contacts,” said Cecilia Banker of Gem essence. “When these people come through Bangkok next time, that’s when we’ll see results.”

            “Last year very few people came for the silver,” said Simone Callai of Rose Tattoo, which specializes in silver. “But I could smell it would be good. That’s why I came back again, and this year it’s four times better.”

            Nirat Nawawatanasub of Yoo Lim, another silver specialist, also reported an increase in this year’s business. “I’m getting a lot of new customers, mostly from Switzerland and Germany,” he said.

            “The fair is much better this year,” said Manish Sukhadia of Swadi Stit Co, which specializes in calibrated rubies and sapphires. “I think this time they gave more importance to marketing and advertising.”

            Mr. Sukhadia said he made many new contacts with Spanish buyers. “Now the Spanish jewelry market is booming and there’s a lot of demand for loose stones.”

            The trend of German wholesalers who are traveling to Chantaburi to buy rubies and sapphires direct is hurting his business, Mr. Sukhadia said. “They don’t bargain and they’re paying prices that we cannot afford. They’re spoiling the market for Asian customers. But you don’t have to get mad at someone. If you’re a businessman, you just find a new way to compete.”

            He added that he thinks the organizers of the official Basel fair are afraid of the competition from Thailand. “It’s challenging [to find a way to compete with Thailand], and they don’t like challenges here,” he said.

Swiss miffed at Thai exhibit

            The unauthorized exhibit by Thai jewelers during the Basel fair “is unappreciated,” and will hamper Thailand’s  efforts to gain entry into the official venue, warned the Swiss organizers.

            The Thai Gem and Jewelry Traders’ Association (TGJTA) has tried for several years to join the prestigious European Watch, Clock and Jewelry Fair, held each April in Basel, Switzerland. Considered one of the top venues in the international jewelry business, the fair bans Thai exhibitors due to the country’s high import duties and lack of intellectual copyright protection.

            For the past two years, the TGJTA has organized its own fair, in a restaurant adjacent to the official venue. Twenty-six Thai companies came for Thai Basel ’91, siphoning off a stream of buyers from the official show.

            “It’s considered unfair when a country is not officially represented to try and profit from the world trade presented here in Basel,” said Michel Mamie, director of the Swiss Industries Fair which organizes the Basel event. “It will slow down efforts by the Thais to get accepted.”

            There is no black list for particular Thai exhibitors, however, said Raymond Weil, who chaired the Basel fair Exhibitors’ Committee this year. “Switzerland is a free country and everyone has a right to show what he wants to show.”

            Mr. Weil, a major Swiss watch manufacturer, added that he loves Thailand and visits here often. “The problem [of copyright protection] is a political-economic subject that is much bigger than the Basel fair.”

            Hong Kong jewelers also held an unauthorized exhibit in Basel for two years, before they were officially accepted. “That’s a different case completely,” Mr. Mamie said. “There, the attitude of the authorities was different. Hong Kong offers completely free trade and the government did everything it could to give the jewelry industry a good image.”

            The rampant counterfeiting in Thailand of Swiss watches such as Rolex is the main obstacle to Thai jewelers who want to join the fair. Hong Kong also has incidences of counterfeiting, but is laws are stricter than Thailand’s Mr. Mamie said.

            “At least if you want to take action in Hong Kong you can, and you get results. That’s the difference between Hong Kong and Thailand. We don’t expect all the violators to get caught, but we think Thailand should create a legal system that makes it possible.”

            “It’s easy to agree that watch copying is not good.” Commented Prida Tiasuwan, owner of Pranda Jewelry and a member of the TGJTA board of directors. “But watch copying has nothing to do with jewelry. It’s unfair for us to be banned when all we want to do is show our jewelry.”

            “They come from Thailand,” countered Mr. Mamie. “They belong to a country that practices this policy. Accepting Thai jewelers is accepting Thailand and that’s something we can’t do at this time.”

            “If you want to belong to a very exclusive club than you must accept the rules,” added Philippe Levy of the Swiss Industries Fair. “You have to decide whether you want to be a member of the club.”