During his first visit to Thailand in more than four years, De Beers President Anthony Oppenheimer spent several days checking in on Thai diamond manufacturers—as well as finding time for a few days of relaxation on the beaches of Koh Samui. Before heading off to Laem Chabang to help open the De Beers exhibit of the largest polished diamond in the world at the BoI Fair ’95 (see story, Big Boom at Laem Chabang), Oppenheimer held a press conference at the Oriental Hotel.

            Here are some excerpts from the interview:

How important is Thailand becoming as a market for your diamonds?

            I think it’s becoming very important…[Speaking of diamond manufacturing] We’re always looking to expand the industry here. It fits into an extremely useful space between India and Israel, and of course, now to a certain extent, is now taking over with some of its finemake, from the Russian polished industry. They always had a reputation for very fine make, and recently, they’ve  been able to produce diamonds more economically than Russian diamond factories. I’m very pleased to see the expansion in polished exports. I haven’t actually seen the figures, but I’m told it’s somewhere around $600 million. That’s 30 per cent up on the previous year. That’s a tremendous increase.

Do you see that niche between India and Israel continuing? Some manufacturers have very high hopes that Thailand will eventually be doing the same kind of things that Israel and even Now York and Antwerp are doing. Is that possible?

            I think that is possible. Obviously, the cutting industry in the world very much depends on the cost of labor. The people I talk to here, I ask them ‘De you see a lot of expansion?’ and they say, ‘Yes, we do. There’s a lot more we can do.’ And we’re very comfortable with that, and very enthusiastic.

Is it tough to have to balance the demands of all these countries? Because the diamond business is important to all these countries, as regards their reputation and economically.

            It is difficult. We don’t like saying no.

Thailand has been requesting the +11 goods and up for some years now. What I’ve heard is that the CSO says yes all the time, but Thai diamond manufacturers have yet to see the +11 goods.

            Much of those goods have been polished and sold to the Japanese market, which has been in recession. Consequently, the +11 box has been quite expensive. We’ve done a reassortment at the end of 1994, and I hope that the box is more attractive to cutters. This is one of the reasons why we haven’t given a great deal of +11 lately, because it hasn’t really been a particularly profitable box. But certainly this is an area that the Thai industry will develop into.

What about the current situation with the Russians?

            The liberalization of the press [in Russia] has led those connected with the diamond business to talk to anybody they see and gibe their view, which is not necessarily the view of the people we are dealing with. So you get a mish-mash of confusing messages coming out. We really haven’t had any negotiations with the Russians yet. They haven’t actually put together a negotiating team yet. Nor have they decided what they want in their new contract. At the moment, we have extremely good relations with the Russians. You might feel, from what you read that we’re sort of stabbing each other in the back. But there’s interplay in the industry, we’re very much of one mind.

            Obviously, though, when it comes to negotiations, you have certain contentions, certain problems. The Russians have a great frustration, because this contract has been a long contract—a five-year contract. Consequently, there’s been big changes in Russia, and what our Russian friends really want is to have more say, to play a bigger part in the diamond business. They’re frustrated that they’re not really in the front lines with us, like the Botswanans, the Australians, and some of the other main producers in the world. We understand it, and obviously this is one of the things that have to be addressed and solutions found. They are the second-largest producer in the world, and so they must play their part. And we will certainly welcome that.

How do you see the diamond business in 1995 and the future?

            We’re really quite excited about the future because we see that world economies are picking up. We’ve talked to most of the retailers, and their forecasts for 1995 are very, very encouraging. Sales in 1994 weren’t as good as, I think, as retailers had expected. …Europe is looking very encouraging. We’re really seeing increased demand from most of the European countries—Italy, France and Germany in particular. And, of course, there’s East Asia, which has good demand and is increasing all the time. China’s had a little bit of a hiccup, but you get various problems with various countries. Japan was going very well before the [Kobe earthquake] occurred and we’re looking for a major revival. I think that might be delayed by this great tragedy, but I think the consensus opinion is that Japan might take off in a major way in the second half of 1995.

            Worldwide, we’re looking for quite a big increase in retail sales. If you look at the figures, De Beers sales figures last year were $4.2 billion—three percent down on the previous year, which isn’t a big deal. But if you then add on the Russian sales on top of that, you’re seeing a much increased market. And you have to say to yourself, ‘Is it sufficient, the Russian stockpile, and the American stockpile? Is it sufficient to fulfill the demand that is going to take place?’ So it is looking quite encouraging—there could be price increases in the future to keep up with inflation. I think that will also help everybody. If you look down the tunnel past 1995, it’s also looking quite encouraging. So we hope to see major expansion in the Thai diamond manufacturing industry, and their exports.

The Bangkok spotlight (JewelSiam April-May 1995 P100)

Pure gold packs a punch boxing photos by jitti damriram, owner of jitti’s Gym jewelry photos by adisorn studio styled by Patricia widener

            As Thai-produced jewelry becomes more and more popular worldwide, so does the razzle-dazzle, grunts and groans of Thai boxing—or Muay Thai. The lethal sport of  high kicks, sledgehammer punches, elbow jabs and painful knee drops is sweeping across Thailand’s borders gathering aficionados in Japan, Europe and the United States. The devoted also include an increasing number of Asian and Western women.

            Jitti damriram, owner of Jitti’s Gym and trainer of some of Thailand’s leading boxers, has traveled all over the world, fighting in France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Holland and Japan. At his popular gym in the Banglampoo district of Bangkok, Jitti trains a number of professional fighters, as well as tourists out for a little adventure in the martial art. Training is daily and lasts from three to five hours.

            Featured on the following pages are 24k gold pieces by Greatest Gold of Greatest Manufacturer and Exporter, Shanghai Goldsmith and Gold Nature of P D Mining and Gems. Thai boxing equipment shown in the photos is courtesy of Jitti’s Gym.