(IDEX Online News) – Flooding in Thailand – the worst that country has seen in 50 years – is impacting jewelry businesses there as the floodwaters began to swamp more areas of the nation.

 

Reuters reported on Thursday that floodwaters now are threatening the capital city of Bangkok, home to about 12 million people. The floods spreading across Thailand have killed 373 people since mid-July and impacted the lives of about 2.5 million.

 

A USS Sea Hawk helicopter flies around the Bangkok area with members of the humanitarian assessment survey team and the Royal Thai Armed Forces to assess the damage caused by flooding, October 22, 2011. Photo: Petty Officer 1st Class Jennifer Villalovos

 

Danish jewelry company Pandora manufactures its jewelry in Gemopolis, the jewelry industry zone just south of Bangkok, and 3,600 of its 5,000 employees, or nearly 75 percent of its workforce, is based there. Company spokesperson Kasper Riis said the company is “monitoring the situation closely” and, as a precaution, has prepared its “vital equipment” to be able to withstand water levels between 1 and 1.5 meters (about 3 to 5 feet) above ground level. He said the highest water has ever risen in Gemopolis is 45 cm (about a foot and a half).

 

“Our current concern is therefore with the Thai society in the affected areas and, in particular, with our employees and their families who may be affected in their private homes,” Riis said.

 

Last Wednesday, Pandora moved up a general holiday scheduled to be observed later in October in order to give its employees the opportunity to prepare their families and homes for flooding.

 

In addition, Riis said last week Pandora distributed bottles of drinking water, sponsored nurses and supplies to provide aid at flood evacuation centers and began paying out some of the funds earmarked for flood-related emergencies to staff and family.

 

Thursday marked the first day of a five-day holiday in Bangkok. The government declared the holiday so city residents could flee floodwaters, which to date had mostly impacted only the country’s north and central provinces.

 

On its Facebook page, the Asian Institute of Gemological Sciences (AIGS) noted that it would be observing the five-day break.

 

At the JA Special Delivery New York show on Tuesday, Sasipa Khankaew, of Bangkok-based Senti Co. Ltd., which specializes in sterling silver jewelry incorporating exotic skins and semi-precious gemstones, called the situation “quite scary.”

 

Senti’s offices and factory are located in the center of Bangkok. Though they had no plans to close their factory as of Tuesday, she said five of the company’s 30 employees already have been forced to evacuate their homes outside of Bangkok. Khankaew said the company has been stocking up on water and food for its staff.

 

In an October 22 email, The Ganoskin Project, a free online source of information for jewelers worldwide, reported that its offices were completely submerged.

 

“We are very much isolated, surrounded by a swamp as far as the eye can see. Our only links to the world are email and phone,” it stated. “At this unfortunate moment, your help is crucial. It is truly needed (and) deeply appreciated.”

 

For every $35 donated to The Ganoskin Project, the company is giving one entry in its Rio Grande gift certificate giveaway. The winner of this contest will receive a $5,000 gift certificate to use toward jewelry supplies from Rio Grande with the second-, third- and fourth-place finishers receiving $3,000, $1,500 and $500 gift certificates, respectively.

 

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