Sapphire can be found in almost every color, but not in every part of the world. In fact, natural sapphire is found and mined from only a few locations in the world, with the most famous sources located in Asia, especially Burma, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Kashmir. The history of Thai sapphire dates back several hundred years. Many of the sapphires traded here were mined from the provinces of Chanthaburi and neighboring Trat (on the border to Cambodia). In addition, blue sapphires from just across the border in
Pailin Province of Cambodia were some of the finest sapphires to be seen, comparable to that of the finest Kashmir sapphire. In fact, the name 'Pailin' was adopted by Thais as their word for '
blue sapphire'.
Most of the sapphires from Thailand are mined from the sapphire mines of Chanthaburi, Trat and Kanchanaburi. Nowadays, almost all of the sapphire mining in Chanthaburi is worked-out with the exception of Chanthaburi's world-famous, unique black star sapphire which is prized for its golden color 6-ray asterism. These golden-ray star sapphires are indigenous to Thailand and are found nowhere else in the world. Though most of Chanthaburi's sapphire supply is gone, many fine fancy color sapphires from Chanthaburi can still be found (and in several interesting colors), as well as traditional blue sapphire. Other Thai sapphire colors include the local golden-yellow favorite 'Mekong whiskey' fancy sapphire and fine green sapphire which range from deep-green to bluish-green, and often tourmaline-like yellowish-green.