Gems and jewelry are in Thailand's top 10 of export earners, worth over a billion dollars per year, with Ruby being the single most important gemstone.

A classical supplier of gemstones Thailand produces Rubies that are a dark red with brownish overtones. 99% of all Thai Rubies undergo some form of heat treatment to obtain the "Siam Color”, an elegant deep red that is highly valued in the USA.

Unfortunately for Thailand an estimated 70% of its Ruby deposits lie in the restricted military area bordering the neighboring country of Cambodia.

This is also a problem for neighboring Cambodia who also have a mass of gem laden land restricted from mining. Sadly, much of this land is also thick with landmines, left over from the desperate regime of the Cambodian dictator Pol Pot.