Met Museum Returns Stolen Thai Artifacts

via various sources, 20 May 2024: Two 1,000-year-old bronze statues, including a rare Standing Shiva, were returned to Thailand by New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. These artifacts, once smuggled by Douglas Latchford, will be displayed at the Bangkok National Museum.

Two ancient bronze images, one of the Standing Shiva, were returned to Thailand on Monday by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Fine Arts Department director-general Phanombut Chantarachote confirmed the two figures arrived in Bangkok and were in the customs and examination process. The two artifacts were accompanied by curators who were met by Thai counterparts. They would jointly carry out the examination, he said.

Nittaya Kanokmongkol, director of the Office of National Museums, said the two statues arrived at 7am and would later be taken to the Phra Nakhon National Museum. They would go on public display on Wednesday at the museum, which is near Sanam Luang.

Source: Bangkok Post – Stolen 1,000-year-old artifacts returned to Thailand