Phatthalung villagers hand over more than 1kg of gold sheets

[webfact]

GOLD RUSH
Villagers hand over more than 1kg of gold sheets
The Nation



BANGKOK: -- Phatthalung villagers have returned over one kilogram of gold sheets and a bracelet that were recently discovered in a palm plantation in Khao Chai Son district and another batch of gold from four individuals would be returned to the Culture Ministry at City Hall tomorrow.

Following examination and assessment, the villagers would be paid a third of the gold's value by the middle this month, Anek Srihamat, director-general of the ministry's Fine Arts Department, said yesterday.

Gold and antique shops in Phatthalung and nearby provinces were urged not to buy these items. The gold, after study, would be sent to the National Museum in Nakhon Si Thammarat that has a better security system, but if in future Phatthalung were ready to build a museum to keep and display the gold, the department would be ready to support it.

The department called on villagers to "return" the ancient gold items by July 2 so officials could study their origin and preserve them as a national heritage.


-- The Nation 2014-06-05

[sirineou]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

Edited June 4, 2014 by sirineou

[Somtamnication]

Very impressive.

I am a huge fan of the UK's Time Team. I love the show and the history it teaches. This is a win win for Thailand.

[JeremyBowskill]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

[Payboy]

At this rate they will turn in the Blue Diamond soon.

[pgrahmm]

Huge respect for the Thai's......

The fur would be flying almost anywhere else......

[Chupup]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

More information please

[NongKhaiKid]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

Let's face it, if even for a moment the villagers had ideas on what to do they shot themselves in the foot by the need to make the find public and get face.

This was guaranteed to generate all sorts of attention and not the least being from officialdom.

[NongKhaiKid]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

More information please

You didn't see the thread last week where the Fine Arts dept made the legal consequences and penalties perfectly clear ?

[sirineou]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

[JeremyBowskill]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

Yup, most Thai farmers have ready access to gold smelting equipment. Also bare in mind all gold shops in the area would have been on red alert too. If you saw the prior article, you would have seen they have been offered a third of the golds value which this government group buying it still claims will be higher than spot price (which I have my doubts on but still). It's was either take the 3rd we promise will be higher than spot value or get bunged in jail. No real choice at all.

Edited June 5, 2014 by JeremyBowskill

[ezzra]

Suckers... this gold will, very quickly find it's way to a private hands on the market and will

never see the light of day again, not for free anyway, in it's place there will be a replica,

a fake of some sort, have seen done before... if handed over to any one, handed over

to a REAL revered monk or to the crown...

[tomyummer]

Why not just pay them the market rate in the gold? Why a third? It's worth much more as an artifact anyhow.

[dinger]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

Reported it to the proper authorities, I think it was more of a matter of the authorities finding out about it and came knocking

[ATF]

The original Crown of England was lost by King John. If someone found it do you think they have the right to smelt it and sell it for scrap. I don't think so. They would deserve a fair reward and this is what these people are getting because what they have found is National Heritage not just gold.

They find fossils including dinosaurs etc. all the time and sell them illegally. I've even seen museum quality ancient arrowheads and other artifacts for sale in Chatujak.

If the found something that wasn't a National Treasure, sure they should keep it.

[binjalin]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

talk about 'rose coloured glasses'... I guess you see what you want to see

[ATF]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

talk about 'rose coloured glasses'... I guess you see what you want to see

They sold gold to the nearest gold shop then the gold shop owner probably tried to sell it to a Temple and the SHTF.

[Benmart]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I prefer to concentrate on the positive and not imagine the negative.

[bristolgeoff]

best guest is 50 percent back the rest is sold to someone

[BigRick]

They deserve fair market value if it was found on private land. They should get the proceeds from an auction. 1/3 of the gold weight value is almost criminal. Its value far exceeds the gold weight. Museums have to pay just like everyone else.

[rametindallas]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

You don't think being threatened with being bunged in jail had any baring on this then?

I guess they could have melted it and sold it in the spot market before any one was, non the wiser,

but they did not.

Instead they report it to the proper authorities,and provisions were mane for it's study and display.

I also remember the story of the lady who found and returned a lot of money to an American teacher, a couple of weeks ago.

These people closer resemble the Thais I know and respect, not the once we so often read about in this forum.

I don't know about Thailand but in the US, those with the capacity to melt gold are highly regulated. Gold cannot be melted except with specialized furnaces because the melting temp. is 1,948 degrees Fahrenheit (1,065 C). In the US, most antique gold, especially old, US minted gold coins that are 'found' belong 100% to the government so the fact that they will get a third of the gold's value, by weight, is not too bad for a day's work. Unless one's experience with Thais is limited to b-girls, ladyboys, cops, and other scam artists, you know that Thais are above average in honesty (except when they are being 'krieng jai'). It seems the Thais who are corrupted most are the ones who deal with foreigners.

[ATF]

They deserve fair market value if it was found on private land. They should get the proceeds from an auction. 1/3 of the gold weight value is almost criminal. Its value far exceeds the gold weight. Museums have to pay just like everyone else.

The value of the artifacts is "priceless" because they are of historical importance and cannot be reproduced. The villagers are getting one third of the estimated intrinsic value which exceeds 100% of the scrap value. Pearls before swine. Who said the gold was found on private land?

[Tywais]

Based on the below table the total value is around 1,307,928.04 Baht for 1kG. So the villagers get 431,616 Baht in total.

http://www.goldrate24.com/gold-price-per-kilogram/

[ATF]

Based on the below table the total value is around 1,307,928.04 Baht for 1kG. So the villagers get 431,616 Baht in total.

http://www.goldrate24.com/gold-price-per-kilogram/

In addition, he said the Nakhon Si Thammarat Fine Arts Office would assess an appropriate price and pay them a third of the "real" price, an amount that would still be higher than the market price.

Nakhon Si Thammarat Fine Arts Office director Anat Bumrungwong said an inspection by his officials was deterred by rainwater and muddy soil.

Gold sheets buried deep

He said villagers had told them the gold sheets were buried three metres under the ground.

The officials' initial assessment was that the gold sheets and ancient artefacts may be from the Ayutthaya era or earlier. The area was suspected to be an old waterway that connected to Songkhla Lake, so it was believed a boat with valuable items may have sunk there.

Ban Thung Ore palm plantation owner Vee Thabsaeng presented a big gold sheet to the officials later yesterday so it could be studied and kept as a national treasure, and the department purchased the sheet from him at the promised price.

Anan said that a study of the gold sheet by department officials would be complete in seven days and hoped that may yield more clarity on its origin.

From the Nation article yesterday, so they will get over 1.3M baht depending on purity.

[MMarlow]

They deserve fair market value if it was found on private land. They should get the proceeds from an auction. 1/3 of the gold weight value is almost criminal. Its value far exceeds the gold weight. Museums have to pay just like everyone else.

They are not being offered 1/3 of the gold's value, they will be given 1/3 of the piece's value as ancient artefacts which will be much more as that value is higher than that of only the gold content.

[MMarlow]

Who said the gold was found on private land?

The land owner and the man that leased it from him.

[MMarlow]

Based on the below table the total value is around 1,307,928.04 Baht for 1kG. So the villagers get 431,616 Baht in total.

http://www.goldrate24.com/gold-price-per-kilogram/

They are not being promised 1/3 of the value of the gold, they will get 1/3 of the value of the pieces as ancient artefacts which will be much higher.

[ATF]

Who said the gold was found on private land?

The land owner and the man that leased it from him.

The only reference I saw was that the gold was found on a palm plantation. Lots of plantations are not on Chanote land, which is the only private land in Thailand.

Anyway it's academic because as in most countries ancient artifacts are classed as property of the state/crown whether found on private or public land.

Edited June 5, 2014 by ATF

[elgordo38]

Just curious the couple that found 10 million in old gold coins in coffee cans in the U.S. did the government seize them. Some were very rare and valuable. Apparently their dog started digging them up. Worth his weight in gold.

[Hatyaier]

An other story re-affirming my opinion and respect for the Thai people.

To those always complaining about the Thai people, I say

Get off your bar-stool, get out of (Don't want to pick of a particular place) , go out in the country and meet the real Thailand and Thais.

I agree. Since moving to Hat Yai 5 years ago I've had my wallet returned to me by a young guy who came running after me. (scared me at first) I dropped it after buying things at Macro.Then I forgot my I-phone on a mini bus to Penang and had that returned to me. Then my niece forgot her I-pad at a bungalow at Taratau and I got that back for her. (It did take 3 months). Now living in the rural area I find all the neighbors always trying to help each other and me. Reminds me of the farmers where I grew up in Canada.