Historic pots returned from US
An American donor has returned her private collection of 12 prehistoric Ban Chiang pottery pieces to the Thai government, according to Deputy Director of Fine Art Department Prateep Phengtako.
Foreign Ministry information chief Busadee Santipitaks, left, and deputy director of the Fine Art Department Prateep Phengtako at the Foreign Ministry in Bangkok with the Ban Chiang pieces.
“On behalf of the Thai government, we would like to thank the collector and the US government for returning our national treasures to the kingdom,” Prateep told a press conference on Thursday at the Foreign Ministry.
The latest returned Baan Chiang collection follows the successful Thai-US agreement to return Thai art to the kingdom.
In 2014, the US returned more than 500 prehistoric Ban Chiang artefacts from the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California.
“The Thai government has been working with the US Department of Homeland Security and American archaeologist Joyce White, who is an expert on Ban Chiang pottery, to bring this collection back to Thailand,” said Foreign Ministry information chief Busadee Santipitaks.
The Foreign Ministry on Thursday officially handed in the returned artefacts to the Fine Art Department.
The returned collection - mostly in good condition - dated between 1,800 to 4,300 years old.
“We will register all artefacts as national treasures and will conserve them for our new national museum in Pratum Thani’s Klong 5,” Prateep said, adding that work continued to return more items from the US.