Thailand's diamond industry is "enlarging" the size of the diamonds it specializes in, says Nataphan Sodrischai Pawson, Association Manager of the Thai Diamond Manufacturers Association.

Over the past few years, Pawson explained in an interview to the Israel Diamond Institute during the Kimberley Process plenary meeting in Jerusalem, the 30 or so members of Thailand's diamond industry have been working with bigger diamonds than in the past.

Prior to the global financial crisis, the Thai diamond trade employed some 10,000 people. Now, Pawson said, that number has dwindled to a few thousand.

Who buys the finished product? Not locals, Pawson told the IDI. Thailand imports rough diamonds – many from South Africa – cuts the stones, and then exports them, a process that is facilitated by the fact that the country taxes neither rough imports nor diamond exports.

Thailand sees membership in the KP as important, as it imports rough diamonds that must be KP-certified. However, when asked about the Thai industry's position on diamonds from Zimbabwe, Pawson replied that Zimbabwe exports were "not an issue" for Thailand.