{"id":161,"date":"2011-03-21T16:26:41","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T16:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shaneco.com\/theloupe\/?p=161"},"modified":"2025-05-30T14:59:54","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T20:59:54","slug":"reflecting-in-bangkok","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shaneco.com\/theloupe\/shane-co\/tom-shanes-world\/reflecting-in-bangkok\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting in Bangkok"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am sitting here in Bangkok, in my Buying Office for rubies<\/a> and sapphires<\/a>, but the weather is making it very difficult to buy.\u00a0 I need to select the stones using natural sunlight.\u00a0 For three days in a row, the sun has not come out.\u00a0 We have had nothing but overcast days and some rain.\u00a0 Today, the temperature outside is in the mid-60\u2019s.\u00a0 As an American, I find it comfortable to walk around.\u00a0 But the Thais have never had such a \u2018cold spell\u2019.\u00a0 Not one building in Bangkok (commercial or residential) has any heat, and the people are freezing.\u00a0 Temperatures for twelve months of the year run between the low 80\u2019s and the low 90\u2019s.\u00a0 With this weather they are shivering, and so uncomfortable.\u00a0 Even the cars here have no heaters.\u00a0 Of course, everything is air conditioned, but no heat.\u00a0 People are wearing three layers of clothes, as they don\u2019t own anything that we would consider warm.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, I have time during the day to compose this blog post, as I can\u2019t buy a single colored stone.\u00a0 It is too dark, sitting against the window, to see anything but the computer keyboard.\u00a0 However, I did buy some white sapphires, as I can tell from my years of buying diamonds<\/a> if the stone is truly white or not, without need of a lot of help from the sunshine.<\/p>\n

Everyone is focused on the tragic news coming out of Japan, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people.\u00a0 Those who survived the quakes and tsunamis, and yet lost their homes and their clothing, and are living with the snow falling and no warm clothes, make our plight here seem so trivial. In fact, Shane Co.<\/a> is going to be donating 10% of all of our pearl<\/a> sales from now until April 17th<\/sup> to relief efforts in Japan.\u00a0 The events in Japan have special significance for me, as I have close relationships with the pearl farmers there, who supply Shane Co. with our cultured pearls. Like Shane Co., they\u2019re family-run businesses that go back for generations.\u00a0 We need to see things in the proper perspective.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine and his wife and baby were out to lunch with me Sunday, and the one year old boy pushed his high chair over and had to be rushed to the hospital.\u00a0 I continue to admire the superb Thai medical system, as well as the personal level of aftercare.\u00a0 The child will be fine, and I appreciate the level of concern that the restaurant and insurance company expressed toward my friend, in handling this accident.\u00a0 You get the feeling in Thailand that people really care about you, which is very pleasant.\u00a0 Every country has its strengths, and we can learn a lot from some of the Asian cultures in certain areas, just as they have learned from us in other areas.\u00a0 The world is truly a small place, and that bodes well for all of us.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just hope Japan\u2019s problems get resolved quickly and positively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I am sitting here in Bangkok, in my Buying Office for rubies and sapphires, but the weather 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