1000 year old stolen lintels will arrive in Thailand tomorrow night

13 Comments

1. 

   Mr cynic

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:05 pm

   A good precedent set here.ive seen plenty of decapitated buhdda statue’s in this part of the world and many crudely hacked off buhdda heads in many western museums.

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2. 

   Robin Banks

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:12 pm

   You didn’t know what a lintel was??!! OMG!! Such a lack of general knowledge… and you report on things of importance! God help us!

   Reply
3. 

   Toby Andrews

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:21 pm

   Is there any proof that they were stolen.
   Perhaps a farmer sold them for B2000.
   If that is the case they were not stolen.

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4. 

   Slugger

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 6:15 pm

   Thieving Yanks should pay restitution too. No history except destruction so they steal other people’s.

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5. 

   EdwardV

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 10:13 pm

   Actually Slugger there is no mention in this article or past ones of the American’s stealing the artifacts. The items came to the museum of art in SF legitimately from European sources. Like most CCP apologists, you never bother to let facts get in the way of a good anti-western rant. That aside, it’s wonderful that Thailand is finally getting them back. I’ve visited Prasat Nong Hong. It’s not a place you visit Buriram to go see, but it is very nice way to spend the day if you are visiting Buriram.

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6. 

   Mr cynic

   Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 10:32 pm

   Plenty of tea leafin brits about also,one trip to the british museum should put you right on that score squire.

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7. 

   Nigel

   Friday, May 28, 2021 at 3:54 am

   @Mr Cynic. There are no stolen items in the British museum. There are plenty of items some local corrupt leader or local sold items to the British. Host to clear up any confusion

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8. 

   Mr cynic

   Friday, May 28, 2021 at 5:55 am

   Nigel,the government and people of Nigeria completely disagree with you,they seem to be of exactly the same opinion as me.
   Would you also like to enlighten me about how the items from the opium wars ended up there and well your at it explain exactly the items from the taklamakan desert that are stored in vaults under the museum and never put on public display legitimately turned up in london because it all looks rather like theft to me .

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9. 

   p grahame

   Friday, May 28, 2021 at 7:52 am

   These are khmer lintels, nothing to do with Thais, there were no Thais 1000 years ago

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10. 

    dee lee

    Friday, May 28, 2021 at 8:20 am

    Nigel , were the elgin horses stolen , gifted or simply flew by themselves to the british museum ?
    BTW , no one stole or approprieted more artifacts from everywhere in the world than the english

    Reply
11. 

    kerryd

    Friday, May 28, 2021 at 9:58 am

    They are lintels from Khmer era temples located in what is now Thailand, which were stolen and smuggled out of Thailand approx 45-50 years ago.

    Much of the Thai population, especially in the central and eastern regions, can probably trace their origins to the Khmer, who ruled much of what is now Thailand.
    At one point the Khmer empire stretched as far west as Kanchanaburi, north to Sukhothai and most of Eastern Thailand (and parts of what are now Laos and Vietnam).

    The “Tai” people migrated from China/Northern Vietnam between the 8-10th centuries CE, which, coincidentally is also when the Khmer were expanding their empire.
    There is little doubt that the 2 cultures inter-mingled, a lot, over the centuries before the Khmer empire converted to Buddhism and then quietly disappeared.

    I have visited over 50 ancient Khmer sites in Thailand, some of which are little more than a few laterite stones sticking out of the dirt, some of which are crumbling remains and some of which have been magnificently restored (well, some have been restored in a somewhat haphazard fashion which most people wouldn’t notice).

    The lintels are a critical part of the temple as they usually identify who the temple was dedicated to and perhaps some other figures. The style and artistry also help to date the temple.

    Prasat Khao Lon is a crumbling ruin with just a single prang (of the 4 originals) still standing. A long, rough stone path leads up to it and the prang is fortified with braces to keep it from toppling over.
    Prasat Nong Hong is a much larger site located in Non Din Daeng. It is in much better condition and better maintained than Khao Lon. Most of the original structure is still in place (doesn’t appear that a lot of reconstruction was required).

    Theft of artifacts from temples has been going on ever since they were built, but really took off in the 50/60s/70s as more people, with more money, took an interest in collecting rare and unique artifacts, usually for their private collections.
    Usually, the original thieves/buyers have long been forgotten by the time the artifacts are discovered and how the current owners acquired them is often murky at best.

    And yes, that includes a lot of everything in the British Museum as well. All that stuff from Egypt and Persia didn’t just appear there magically, no matter how many “Mummy” movies you may have seen.

    Trying reading the bit about the controversies of the British Museum:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum#Artefacts_taken_from_other_countries

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12. 

    Marinus Pemen

    Friday, May 28, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    Robin BanksThursday, May 27, 2021 at 5:12 pm
    You didn’t know what a lintel was??!! OMG!! Such a lack of general knowledge… and you report on things of importance! God help us

    Maybe there are some things that you don’t know the meaning from. Don’t take Your lack of knowledge out on other people. If you don’t have anything better to say ,Please Shut Up.

    Reply
13. 

    BIGGGGG Mike

    Friday, May 28, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    Reading Covid news is getting old already. Im happy to read news pieces such as this.

    Reply