Thailand to Foreign Countries: Give Us Our Art Back
The Thai government is pushing the US and other former colonial powers like the UK to return their artwork and other antiquities that Thai officials believe the country has a cultural right to.
Many Thai artifacts are displayed in museums all across the world.
The origins of these Thai antiquities and how they were lost or taken out of the country are dubious in nature, with most believed to be looted from the country at one point or another.
That’s not to say that museums, which carry Thai art and other cultural artifacts are complicit in the crimes of others.
Many times the museums received donations or buy the pieces from collectors without knowing the exact origin of how it was secured.
Thailand’s culture minister Vira Rojpojchanarat is fighting foreign governments to return hundreds of the country’s priceless cultural gems from foreign collections.
In the US, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are helping Thailand and other countries identify and return stolen cultural property.
According to the Royal Thai Embassy in D.C., joint efforts between the two countries are going well, “The US government has been supportive of Thai efforts to reclaim artifacts smuggled or illegally taken out of the Kingdom.”
Read the full story here.
