Bo Rai Gem Market

Bo Rai Gem Market is a historic gem trading market located in Bo Rai town, Bo Rai District, Trat Province in eastern Thailand near the Cambodia border. Once the center of Thailand's ruby boom from the 1960s to the 1990s, it drew miners and traders from across the region. Today it remains a small local market where vendors sell rubies, sapphires and other gemstones, reflecting the area's mining heritage and cross-border trading history.

Visitors can expect a small open-air market in the center of Bo Rai town with rows of stalls and shopfronts displaying rough and cut gemstones, including rubies and sapphires, along with simple jewelry. The setting is a quiet district town with low-rise shophouses, local food stalls and gem dealers examining stones. Activity is modest compared to its historic peak, with more traders present in the morning. Visitors can walk through the market area, observe trading and browse stones and souvenirs.

Bo Rai District was one of Thailand's most important ruby mining areas from the early 20th century, with a major boom from the 1960s to the early 1990s. The gem market developed as the central trading point where miners, cutters and dealers from Thailand and neighboring Cambodia traded rubies, particularly the famed Siam rubies, before reserves declined and trading activity reduced.

The market represents the gem-trading culture and mining heritage of Trat Province and the Thai-Cambodian border community. It reflects the local livelihood and craftsmanship associated with gem cutting and trading that shaped Bo Rai's identity for decades.