Returning to the National Museum as part of a larger campaign to track historical heritage materials
PUBLISHED: 14 Nov 2024 at 19: 04
Four 3, 000-year-old Ban Chiang objects were returned on Thursday from the United States to Thailand.
A relocation ceremony was held in Issara Vinijchai Throne Hall at the National Museum in Bangkok to mark International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property.
The artefacts have been kept at the embassy ever since, according to US Ambassador Robert Godec, who claimed the items were given to an American man in the 1960s as a product from the Thai state. According to him, the items were kept in the ministry’s safe and were kept there for a while, with the consulate just asking for their return.
He said,” This is the right time to return these priceless items to their proper homes.” Especially as the United States government has taken major steps to proactive return social objects from various places to their legitimate owners in recent years.
The Issara Vinijchai Throne Hall, home to US Ambassador Robert Godec, is the site of a festival where the National Museum in Bangkok holds a repatriation service. ( Photo: Apichart Jinakul )
The” Golden Boy,” or standing Shiva, and a standing person from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York were returned to Thailand in May after the relocation. The National Museum currently houses both monuments.
” We hope]these artefacts ] will contribute to the further study and understanding of one of Southeast Asia’s most important prehistoric societies”, Mr Godec said.
The objects, according to Culture Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, represent evidence of human settlement in Southeast Asia during the late ancient time, which lasted for about 3, 000 decades. She claimed that the materials ‘ return would strengthen cultural ties and promote mutually beneficial cooperation.
According to Ms. Sudawan,” The United States has been a major supporter of different projects involving the Ban Chiang archaeological site, especially through the 1974 combined excavation and research conducted by the Fine Arts Department and the University of Pennsylvania.”
The research led to the determination of the age of the historic site’s documents, which was later acknowledged internationally.
Phnombootra Chandrajoti, the director-general of the Fine Arts Department, said several objects have been looted and smuggled out of Thailand. To follow their return, a council consisting of members from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Thai Police, and the Fine Arts Department has been established.
The commission is checking whether two ancient Hindu treasures are from Thailand and has just discovered two that are kept in the US. ” Documents are crucial to society and best kept in their motherland”, he added.