On 25 January 2023 at 15.00 hrs., the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand organised the handover ceremony of the 9 wooden Buddha statues given by an Australian to Thailand held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the event, Mr. Nathapol Khantahiran, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand and Mr. Sathaporn Thiangtham, Deputy Director-General of the Fine Arts Department, represented their respective organisations. Also, Mrs. Kanchana Patarachoke, Director-General of the Department of Information, Miss Nitaya Kanokmongkol, Director of the Office of National Museums, Fine Arts Department, and other staff from the two organisations attended the event.

The aforementioned Buddha statues were 10 – 15 cm. in size, made of small carved wood. Mr. Murray Upton, an Australian national, informed the Royal Thai Embassy in Canbarra that he had inherited the Buddha statues from his farther who has had possession of these statues since 1911 and would like to hand them over to Thailand via the Royal Thai Embassy.

The handover ceremony was part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and                  the Fine Arts Department’s mission to bring Thai antiquities from abroad back to Thailand. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to express sincere appreciation to the Fine Arts Department, the Ministry of Culture for the long-standing cooperation in bringing back the Thai artifacts to Thailand. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also would like to thank Mr. Upton for recognizing the importance of Thai antiquities and his donations of the 9 wooden Buddha statues back to Thailand.

After the hand-over ceremony, the Fine Arts Department would take the wooden Buddha statues for the identification and inspection process before conserving them in an appropriate place.