12 ancient artefacts find way home
Twelve ancient items have been returned to Thailand from the US, said Busadee Santipitaks, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The artefacts were handed over to the Thai embassy in Washington. A press briefing was held at the ministry to announce the return of the items yesterday.
Prateep Pengtako, deputy director-general of the Fine Arts Department responsible for preserving the artefacts was also present at the briefing to witness the event.
The 12 items, which include earthenware, terracotta utensils and bronze bracelets, belong to various periods dating back between 1,800 years to 4,300 years, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The items were given back by US citizens who came into their possession over the years.
The Fine Arts Department will register them as national heritage assets. The items, which are damaged, will be restored as needed according to the standard restoration practice.
After the restoration, the department will keep the items at the National Museum in Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani.
Ms Busadee said the government has set up a committee to recover national treasures which are missing and believed to be overseas.
The panel will determine the whereabouts of the remaining missing treasures and secure their return to Thailand.
Yesterday’s handover of the artefacts marked yet another success in tracing and recovering the country’s prized assets. The panel is still trying to locate additional artefacts located in other countries.
The government has continued to receive items of antiquity through the panel’s coordination with other countries. The 12 items bring the number of artefacts recovered from overseas since 2001 to 954, Ms Busadee said.