Thailand to return recovered artefacts

Thailand to return recovered artefacts



BANGKOK: -- Thailand will return to Cambodia 16 artefacts recovered among a trove of antiquities hoarded by Pol Lt Gen Pongpat Chayaphan, former chief of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), who has been sacked from the police service for corruption, The Phnom Penh Post reported, citing Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong.

The spokesman said 20 other objects from the same stash could also be repatriated if further investigations conclusively find they were stolen from Cambodia.

In an announcement made in Friday, Thailand did not specify when the objects might be returned. The announcement, however, did not give details on the types of the recovered artefacts verified to belong to Cambodia or where they were stolen from.

Kong Vireak, director of the National Museaum, said how old the objects are was also not known yet.

The repatriation announcement came months after Cambodia submitted a request for Thailand to have access to the artefacts recovered from Pol Lt Gen Pongpat. The artefacts included hundreds of Buddhist and Hindu statues, reliefs and figurines.

Since 1999, Thailand has repatriated 43 Cambodian antiquities, seven of which were returned in 2009, according to Kuong.

Source: http://englishnews.t...vered-artefacts

 
-- Thai PBS 2015-01-19