Naree Thief of Gems

From Poverty to Prosperity

The story of karma and the consequences of our deeds that I’m going to tell you today happened to a woman named Naree. She was a worker at a gemstone company in the Bo Phloi district of Kanchanaburi.

Originally from Chumphon, Naree grew up in poverty. She spent her childhood working as a laborer, picking coffee beans at a nearby plantation. The income was never enough to afford a comfortable life, and after finishing the sixth grade, she could not continue her education. She worked odd jobs until she was 19, when she fell in love with a 10-wheel truck driver who had come to work at the plantation.

When the coffee market in Chumphon began to fail, prices dropped, and the plantation owner was forced to cut back production and lay off workers. Naree’s husband decided to return to his hometown in Bo Phloi, where he found work driving a 10-wheel truck for a local mine. He brought Naree with him and helped secure her a job as a general laborer at the same site.

At first, Naree worked as a housekeeper, but she took every opportunity to learn how to grade gems from the staff responsible for that work. Years later, she had become so proficient that she was hired as a full-time gem sorter for the mine.

As their combined income grew, the family’s financial situation improved steadily, eventually allowing them to start a family. Naree gave birth to a son, and the family lived happily, with a life that was vastly better than before. Their social standing improved, and they became more respected in the community.

Recently, Naree’s family had acquired a television and a refrigerator for their compact home, built on the one-rai plot of land her husband had inherited from his father in Bo Phloi.

A Fatal Mistake

Lately, people began to notice that Naree started wearing more expensive clothes—something expected, given that her position allowed for it. Her family’s wealth grew steadily; from having almost nothing, they now owned a pickup truck. Her husband had left his job at the mine to work independently, often hired by merchants to transport produce and various products from Thong Pha Phum to Bo Phloi, which noticeably elevated their family’s living standards.

However, cracks began to show in Naree’s family life. Their hard-earned income was being drained by greed—unnecessary spending on items like video players, stereo systems, and other luxuries. Despite earning a salary that should have been comfortable, Naree frequently had to borrow money from colleagues, and she constantly struggled to make ends meet.

The Heart of the Mine

In her daily work, Naree was stationed at the heart of the mine. There, large excavators would dig up the earth and load it into trucks. The trucks then dumped the material into large vats, where workers used high-pressure water to wash the soil into a machine called the “Apollo”—a machine designed to separate rocks, gravel, and gems into specific collection points. The gravel and gems were then carried along a conveyor belt into an insulated, air-conditioned building made from storage containers.

Inside this building, there were about six sorters, including Naree, with another six tough guards overseeing them. This level of security was necessary because, in the past, there had been frequent thefts of raw gems—specifically the famous blue sapphires of Bo Phloi.

Every day, Naree sorted through both small and large raw stones. Because of her experience, she could accurately estimate the value of each piece. Her integrity had earned her the trust to lead the sorting team. But as her family’s financial situation unraveled, Naree fell into debt, owing her colleagues over a thousand dollars. With no clear way to pay off what she owed, she made a grave decision: she began stealing the raw gems that she and her subordinates sorted, passing them to workers at a nearby mine.

The Price of Greed

For a time, her family’s situation improved, but it lasted only four or five months. In the end, she was caught. Naree was taken and subjected to harsh treatment until she confessed everything. As for the workers who had been buying the stolen gems from her, the mine owner had ordered them to be killed.

Naree was detained, remaining in a cell without coming out to see the light of day. Every item of value in her home was seized by the mine to be assessed, but the total value still didn’t come close to covering the worth of the gems she had stolen and sold. Her husband was powerless to help; in the past, anyone caught committing such a crime would have been shot on the spot.

However, Naree was a long-time employee who had once been a favorite of the mine owner because of her past loyalty and relentless work ethic. Word had it that the owner was deeply heartbroken that Naree—someone he had truly trusted—had dared to betray him so deeply.

The mine owner’s subordinates punished her brutally. They used a welding torch to weld a piece of metal near her face while holding her eyes open. This left her eyesight clouded and nearly blind. She could now only see things at a very close range.

Naree’s life turned completely upside down. Her status, once respected by others, fell to its lowest point, and neighbors dared not associate with her family anymore. Eventually, her husband took their son and moved to another province to start a life with a new wife, leaving Naree behind in a dilapidated house without ever looking back.

Naree became an outcast. She went from having nearly everything to being destitute, scraping by washing dishes at local noodle shops. Every day, returning to her empty home was torture; she would weep until it felt as though she were crying blood. The sight of Naree wandering the streets of Bo Phloi became a symbol of dishonesty.

A Second Chance

Naree had certainly learned her lesson and no longer dared to even consider doing wrong. But with her impaired vision, returning to her former line of work was an impossible dream. Not far from the original mine, Naree asked to join a group of housewives sorting discarded stones for landscaping purposes.

Naree was able to get this job because of the compassion of a worker she had once helped in the past. When she had hit her absolute lowest point, the seeds of the kindness she had sown years before returned to help her. Even though the pay was only about $1.00 to $1.50 a day, it was still far better than starvation.

Over time, her past faded from memory, and she eventually married a new husband who worked at that same mine. Her status shifted from a day laborer to a homemaker, and her income more than doubled. Yet, she vowed to herself that no matter how dire her circumstances might become, she would never make the same mistake again.

The Test of Integrity

One day, while she was sorting stones, a husband and wife arrived in a European car. A short while after they left, she spotted the woman’s black leather handbag lying nearby. She opened it and was shocked to see stacks of cash inside. She roughly estimated that there was no less than $10,000.

“Why would anyone carry this much money?” she thought to herself.

She didn’t know what to do, but she didn’t dare tell anyone, fearing that others would see it as a lucky windfall. She firmly resolved to keep it safe until the owners returned. At that moment, there was no greed left in her heart.

Less than half an hour later, the couple drove back to the mine, looking distressed.

“Excuse me, have you seen my black leather handbag?” the woman asked.

“Yes, I have it,” Naree replied. “I kept it safe for you. I looked inside and saw it was full of money, so I didn’t dare tell anyone, but I figured you would come back for it soon.”

At those words, the woman’s eyes widened with relief.

“Oh, you found it! You are truly kind—thank you so much, truly thank you!”

A few moments later, the couple drove to the administrative office and returned with the mine manager. The manager explained that the man was a General in the military, and the woman was his wife.

“You have done a noble deed, and it brings credit to our mine,” the manager commended her.

The General’s wife took out a stack of cash to give to Naree, but she politely refused.

“Oh no, please, I didn’t do anything special. I just saw the bag lying there, and when I opened it and saw so much money, I hid it away because I was afraid others might see it.”

But the couple insisted.

“Let’s do this: I want to give you $300 as a token of my gratitude. And I want you to come work for me in Bangkok. When I’m free, I’ll come back to pick you up. Will you agree? Your husband can come with you, too. I want to take care of someone like you.”

As the General’s wife finished speaking, tears streamed down Naree’s face; she couldn’t hold them back.

The Echoes of Karma

Ultimately, we reap what we sow. Those who live with integrity earn the respect and admiration of society, allowing them to walk with their heads held high and find genuine peace of mind. But for those who choose the path of malice, the outcome is starkly different. Once one’s misdeeds come to light, they create a permanent stigma—a mark that clings to a person’s reputation for the rest of their life.

In the end, we are the sole architects of our own destiny. We alone choose the path we walk, whether it leads to happiness or suffering.

Remember: do good, and goodness will follow you; commit evil, and you will surely face the consequences in return.