Thai farmers unearth 2.5 million Baht in gold under orchard

[webfact]

Farmers Unearth 2.5 Million Baht in Gold Under Orchard


Gold plates found in Patthalung province, May 28 2014.

PATTHALUNG — A gold rush is now underway in Patthalung province after a local farmer found plates of gold buried beneath his palm tree orchard.

Rawee Thabsaeng, 54-year-old resident of Khao Chai Son district, said he found the gold on 25 May in the field where he had planted small palm tree shoots two weeks ago.

According to Mr. Rawee, the gold was buried 10-20 centimetres below the ground along with other small trinkets such as earrings and brooches. The plates have a Japenese inscription on them, leading Mr. Rawee to believe the gold might have been buried by Japanese soldiers during their occupation of Thailand in the Second World War.

After the news got out, hundreds of local residents and farmers rushed to his orchard for more gold, Mr. Rawee said. More than 100 gold plates, worth around 25,000 baht each, have been unearthed so far, said a local administrative official.

Yesterday afternoon, over 500 people were seen digging in Mr. Rawee's palm field, undeterred by constant rain showers of. Shouts of joy signalled every time a new plate was found.

Mr. Rawee said he has not barred neighbours from digging up the gold because he sees the gold rush as "a way to distribute wealth" among the local community.

Pol.Maj.Gen. Surasak Ramayanond, commander of Phattalung provincial police, said the police have already inspected the area and determined the gold to be genuine. An initial investigation also revealed that the gold was "antique" and not associated with any recent cases of theft, he said.

Police have been dispatched to guard Mr. Rawee's field to provide security to the residents, Pol.Maj.Gen. Surasak added.

Source: http://en.khaosod.co.th/detail.php?newsid=1401268550


-- Khaosod English 2014-05-28

[JetsetBkk]

Can someone start a rumour about gold being found in Phang Nga?

Might help get rid of a few undesirables from Phuket.

[Sayonarax]

Nice find!

[JesseFrank]

Mr. Rawee said he has not barred neighbours from digging up the gold because he sees the gold rush as "a way to distribute wealth" among the local community.

Generous man. I would let the dogs out if anyone set foot on my property.

[impulse]

Kudos to the guy.

But I'd have held the information back until I had parlayed the gold into a couple of metal detectors and searched my whole property a few times over.

Then I'd have allowed the 500 others to have a look.

I'm selfish like that.

[coma]

Kudos to the guy.

But I'd have held the information back until I had parlayed the gold into a couple of metal detectors and searched my whole property a few times over.

Then I'd have allowed the 500 others to have a look.

I'm selfish like that.

Me too. And would have stuck them with a mining licence fee.

[AhFarangJa]

Good luck to him, it appears there are no treasure trove laws in Thailand then?

[jaideeguy]

Good way to win friends............................

[55Jay]

The woman just behind him, in the pink shirt, doesn't seem to think this was the best course of action.

[bigbamboo]

I would like to report that we too have just found gold on our land.

It's about ten rai, the ground is rock hard and our tractor's broken down. Don't forget to bring your own spade.

[desmondspencer]

Hope he has the right paperwork to his orchard... not sure if the boys-in-Brown had their cut yet..

Sent from my LG-D505 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[jameson2wheels]

Well let's see....distributes wealth to his neighbors...mighty Thai of him

Never see that in western countries ..."all mine, mine, mine"

[somchaismith]

Yamashita's gold, no doubt.

[Lingba]

was talking to my Thai wife about this in which she already heard the story..she told me in her broken English that certain gov't personel have basically blocked off the land from everyone including the owner and gave him some BS about having rights to whatever gold is left and then must return it to the Japanese....

TIT!

[tw25rw]

So where did the Japanese plunder it from?

[Chicog]

Police have been dispatched to guard Mr. Rawee's field to provide security to the residents, Pol.Maj.Gen. Surasak added.

Is that along the lines of "Give us our share and we won't shoot you"?

[Seastallion]

was talking to my Thai wife about this in which she already heard the story..she told me in her broken English that certain gov't personel have basically blocked off the land from everyone including the owner and gave him some BS about having rights to whatever gold is left and then must return it to the Japanese....

TIT!

That's more believable than he opened up his land to everyone.

Or maybe he opened up his land because he knew some big-wig would come and snaffle it all anyway?

[Loles]

Very good news, and the poor people also can get luck. This is rather rare in TH and Asia.

[Just1Voice]

was talking to my Thai wife about this in which she already heard the story..she told me in her broken English that certain gov't personel have basically blocked off the land from everyone including the owner and gave him some BS about having rights to whatever gold is left and then must return it to the Japanese....

TIT!

Now why doesn't that surprise me in the least? The Japanese will never see a gold flake.

[dinger]

Wonder how long it took before friends and others showed up wanting a loan

[UbonRatch]

Farmers Unearth 2.5 Million Baht in Gold Under Orchard

Jatuporn's been busy.

Now they need Amulet detectors.

[Skint]

I would have said nothing and kept the lot.

[Changnoi2]

I Rekon he was with a few friends when he found the gold and he asked them to keep a secret, 24hours later he had 500 people on his land and so he made a nice story to tell. Inside he's gutted.

[rebelplatoon]

It's always the poor that don't mind SHARING.

[Pib]

The guy in the picture sure has a sh&t-eating grin on his face.

[FangFerang]

Fortune is random. Interesting he shared it with neighbors.

Amazing Thailand!

I guess when confronted with such a situation, anyone would have said, "Screw palm oil."

I hope he knows a lot of museums would pay much more than the gold value to add such pieces to their collections....

[pancakeman]

Maybe he needed his fields plowed and figured out this method was cheaper?

[sumtingwong]

I wonder who the Japanese stole it from?

[UbonRatch]

I wonder who the Japanese stole it from?

Maybe it was found at the bottom of a lake in Nanjing?

[Misterwhisper]

The Department of Fine Arts should have been called in immediately to cordon the entire orchard off and confiscate any items found so far to be examined. This could well be something more significant than Japanese loot from WW2. And even if it is, it could still be of historical importance and the pieces would deserve to be exhibited instead of being pawned for some cheap rice whisky and a new motorcycle. In the end, the owner of the plantation should be fairly compensated for the find - and if he then still wants to share his new-found wealth with hundreds of his neighbors, so be it.

But it is actions like this by legions of money-hungry people (or should I say 'looters'?) that cause countless historical artifacts all over the world to be destroyed forever.