'Amber' suddenly appeared in quantities in gem markets in Manila and Bangkok last year. They sell by weight and it is expensive. I've never used it as it is definitely a case of caveat emptor in these markets, where vendors will tell you anything and everything.

So how do I know real amber from the plastic? Given the domination of Chinese goods in all SEAsian markets it seems very probable the 'amber' is from there.

You mentioned amber was 'thermolabile, whereas phenolic plastics are thermosetting', please would you be kind enough to explain what this means?