US embassy returns Ban Chiang artefacts

Four 3,000-year-old Ban Chiang artefacts were returned on Thursday from the United States to Thailand.
The US embassy returned them to mark International Day against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property, with a repatriation ceremony held in Issara Vinijchai Throne Hall at the National Museum in Bangkok.
US Ambassador Robert Godec said the artefacts had been presented to an American soldier as a gift from the Thai government in the 1960s and had been kept at the embassy ever since. The items remained in the embassy’s safekeeping in a carefully maintained environment, he said, adding that the embassy recently approached the Fine Arts Department to voluntarily return them.
“Now is the right time to return these precious items back to their rightful home,” he said. “Particularly as the United States government has made significant steps in recent years to proactively return cultural objects around the world back to their rightful owners.”
Before the repatriation, the US had returned two ancient statues — the “Golden Boy”, or standing Shiva, and a kneeling woman — from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York to Thailand in May. Both statues are now exhibited at the National Museum.
“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.
Culture Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said the artefacts are national treasures as they are evidence of human settlement in Southeast Asia in the late prehistoric period, approximately 3,000 years ago. She said the return of the objects would strengthen cultural ties and the long-standing and robust cooperation between the two countries.
“The United States has been a significant supporter of various projects related to the Ban Chiang archaeological site, particularly through the joint excavation and research conducted by the Fine Arts Department and the University of Pennsylvania in 1974,” Ms Sudawan said.
“The age of artefacts from the Ban Chiang archaeological site was determined and recognised globally thanks to the research.”
Phnombootra Chandrajoti, the director-general of the Fine Arts Department, said many artefacts have been looted and smuggled out of Thailand. To pursue their return, a committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Thai Police, and the Fine Arts Department has been established.
The committee recently found two ancient Hindu relics being kept in the US and is verifying whether they are from Thailand. “Artefacts are important to humanity and best kept in their motherland,” he added.