Issue 48

The owner of Pranda Group believes Thailand’s gem and jewelry industry has a bright future, and should do more to attract major buyers.

The strength of Thailand’s gems and jewelry industry rests in its ability to import quality raw materials from sources around the world and to turn them into a wide range of designs to meet customers’ different needs. This is the view of Prida Tiasuwan, the owner of Pranda Group.

“Forty years ago, I realised that Thai craftsmanship was very good at gemstone cutting, and that it would be better if I could add more value to those gemstones. Therefore, I set up a factory to produce jewelry,” he says.

Currently, Pranda Group has the capacity to produce 10 million pieces of jewelry per year at factories in Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. The group also has its own brands including Prima Gold, Julia and Merii, targeting markets in Asia and the Middle East.

“Our expertise is in producing jewelry collections for the upper-middle class. Pranda’s key customers are in the US, EU and Asia, and we are seeing growing demand in ASEAN countries as well,” says Tiasuwan.

In the meantime, Tiasuwan believes Thailand should strengthen its advantages, for example, by encouraging Thai jewelers to explore gemstones sources around the world, and bring those quality raw materials back to the country.

“Thailand has a very strong gem and jewelry cluster,” he says. “We have gemstones traders, skilled workers, jewelry designers and qualified laboratories to guarantee the quality of jewelry products,” says Tiasuwan.

With all these strengths, Pranda’s founder believes that Thailand can maintain its position as one of the most important gems and jewelry centres in the world.

Over 30,000 visitors from around the world visited the 2,600 exhibitors at the 57th Bangkok Gem and Jewelry Fair, held by DITP at Impact Muang Thong Thani from February 24 to 28. However, Tiasuwan thinks more can be done in order to encourage potential buyers.
“Switzerland is a good example for a tradeshow like this,” he says. “During the fair period [Baselworld], it offers visa-free travel and duty-free for foreign visitors participating in the fair.”

For more information, visit www.pranda.com
Words by: Somhatai Mosika