Gemsicuted

Written by Julian Robov


Sixty Three


It was a Wednesday morning, and Boonchu arrived at his office a bit early to settle some outstanding accounts with two of his brokers, Seri and Tarin. They too had arrived in time so checking accounts and rubies with them and the ones on consignment were tallied with the receipts and other slips they often carried when going from office to office or upcountry. At the same time, Boonchu was worrying what to tell Marty if he turned up on Friday, when he was already in Chantaburi for the weekend. And to add further confusion, his men had no reliable evidence to confirm that Chai was killed by the gangs or by the local Mafia’s. The car crash at Pattaya did grab his attention but his men had no evidence to connect those incidents with Chai’s sudden disappearance. With that sunken feeling he kept looking at the rubies and listening to the broker’s comments at the same time. Switching gemstones was a common hobby among the crooks who needed money, and Bangkok being the gem cutting center for natural, synthetic, imitation, and assembled gems, the availability and pilferage at the cutting factories became an excellent conduit to achieve that goal. Even though there were many gem testing laboratories and a couple of gem schools to train people to differentiate naturals from synthetics, it was difficult to teach anyone how to avoid losing money in a foolish way, because in most cases people bought or sold rubies by impulse or excitement. Sometimes people just forgot to use their commonsense at the right time, and Marty’s case was one such example. He got too excited and moved by the color and price of the ruby, only to regret like water over the dam situation. It was just too late. There were so many synthetics coming in every color shades and sizes from all over the world to Bangkok, especially from America and Russia. The age-old practice of making decisions by just looking under the sky or table remained intact, losing money, credibility and peace of mind all at the same time. Salting parcels or single stones was easy or difficult at times depending upon to whom these dealers were showing the stones. One thing everyone knew about rubies were they were expensive and came only from Bangkok or Burma and the ignorant believed buying from the source helped them reap profits overnight. Tarin was quoting a similar story to Boonchu while sorting a parcel of rubies from Mong Hsu (Burma) and laughing at the stupidity of the foreigner who fell into the trap of a tout on Silom Road.

Boonchu didn’t want Tarin to continue the conversation, instead he asked him to change the topic. He had enough of hearing such pathetic stories. Again the thought emerged what to tell Marty when he had nothing to share with him. With such a baggage of mistrust and impatience accumulating by the second, Boonchu knew Marty would think twice if and when he ever decided setting foot in Bangkok to buy rubies. The experience he had been going through was so painful and beyond explanation, Boonchu believed that he had lost one good customer for life.

As he was toying with such a thought, Marty arrived at his office as if he had something to say. Boonchu greeted Marty trying to conceal all what he was thinking just a few minutes ago. He had something important to say. He was leaving for Switzerland with one promise. Never again he was going to set foot in Bangkok even if anyone gave him a free ticket and a planeload of cash. He was going elsewhere. He didn’t believe that Boonchu was in any position to help finding Chai given the time he was taking, and staying longer in Bangkok meant more worries and dreadful thoughts.

Personally, he liked Boonchu, but the system and the way in which the traders worked weren’t like in Switzerland. He blamed himself for his own spectacular demise.
When asked about Pius, Marty just laughed. Pius left in the morning with a note not to worry about him anymore since he had managed to make his peace with his Malaysian girlfriend. After borrowing some money from Marty, Pius fled Bangkok. All these events seemed to happen so quickly, he had no one to blame except himself. Even though Seri and Tarin didn’t understand a word about what Marty said, they felt his thoughts while remaining silent. Boonchu was speechless. When asked what he was going to do if and when he got back to Switzerland, Marty had no convincing answers. Instead, he blamed the timing and people in general. Boonchu reminded him that rubies never cheated. It was the people involved who did the right or wrong thing, and he always guaranteed the rubies he sold to anyone. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be sitting in his office comfortably. Marty had heard similar statements before so it was nothing new to him. But he still refused to answer Boonchu why he had come to his office.
“A final goodbye!” Marty said in a funny way.
“No final goodbye, Marty,” Boonchu said. “I have also lost money before. But I never said goodbye to the ruby business. It was my mistake, and why should I blame the ruby. That’s part of the game. No one wins all the time. But you must be patient. That’s how you win the game.”
“Yeah? It will take many years of work to recoup the money I lost with this fucking synthetic ruby, you understand? I know you are honest but look the way I lost money and peace of mind,” Marty quipped.
“I can help you if you decide to stay where you are,” Boonchu added, “because it is a fact you lost the money and ruby. I myself don’t know where Chai is or his whereabouts. Let’s assume he is dead, what next? We must think about the future and you are the only one who can decide what to do. Let bygones be bygones.”
“Yeah? What are you suggesting?” Marty asked, puzzled.
“Start all over again, if you are ready. I can help you with the rubies, but first you should forget the past. If you keep worrying too much about it, then you won’t be able to concentrate in your business. As you know, we make decisions fast, but carefully,” Boonchu said with a smile.
Marty remained silent. Tarin and Seri were still grading the rubies and listening at the same time.
“Why are you so kind to me, Boonchu?” Marty asked, puzzled.
“Because I also lost money and misidentified rubies before. I understand the pain and sleep when someone loses money, especially one of my clients. You came to my office and gave me business. So in turn, I want to do the same thing,” Boonchu replied calmly.
Marty was moved by Boonchu’s assurance and tears began to roll down his cheeks not knowing what to say other than thanks. A NATURAL THAI!
“You know something,” Boonchu continued. “I am going to Chantaburi tomorrow. You should come with me. I am sorry to ask this question? Do you have money?”
“Well,” Marty hesitated for a while, and then said, “What do you mean?”
“Stay in Thailand. Be patient. You will make your money slowly. I will teach you what I know and then one day when you are ready, we go partnership. Fifty-fifty,” Boonch said plainly. That was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Are you serious?” Marty asked in disbelief.
“I don’t joke when I do serious business. I can arrange everything for you, if you are ready. AMAZING THAILAND, isn’t it?” Boonchu said, and then laughed. Both, Tarin and Seri who were listening also laughed. Marty had no other choice. He too laughed.
“I will tell you something. This is from my experience. If you want to learn more about rubies the best place is where there are gemstones,” Boonchu said glancing at Seri who had a belly laugh. He continued, “Crooks are everywhere, am I right?”
“Is it true? I don’t believe this. You must be joking,” Marty answered.
“You don’t believe me?” Boonchu asked.
“I didn’t say that. You see I got cheated and I know the reasons. What else you can say?” Marty replied.
“Okay, you learned something today. Now get your bags from the hotel and stay with me. I have a condo unit empty. Come, let’s go for lunch, “Boonchu urged, and then walked to his safe deposit box to put some of the rubies back.
For Marty it happened to be the best day since he arrived Bangkok.