A US citizen and a Thai resident in the US want to return 38 ancient artefacts in their possession, which were proven to have originated in Thailand, Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat says.
He was speaking yesterday after chairing a meeting of a committee set up by the government to recover artefacts that are missing and believed to be located overseas.
He said participants learned that a US citizen who has 16 such items and a Thai resident in the US with 22 items in his possession have shown an intention to return them to Thailand.
The US citizen, Lisette Christiansen, contacted the government saying the items she wanted to return included bronze bracelets and earthernware.
She told the committee the items belonged to her father-in-law who was a collector and who bought them while serving as a US diplomat in Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Mr Vira.
The artefacts later came to the attention of Joyce White, an American archaeologist and executive director of the new Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology in Philadelphia.
Ms White examined photos of the artefacts and concluded that they were roughly 5,000 years old from the Ban Chiang prehistoric era. She advised that they be returned to Thailand, Mr Vira said.
Mr Vira also said that a Thai, Santi Wibulmongkol, also wanted to return 22 ancient items to the country.
Mr Santi said he was given the items by someone who had inherited them.
Mr Vira said the 38 items are expected to be returned to Thailand soon.
Since it was set up after the regime took power in 2014, the committee has overseen the return of at least 705 artefacts.
