Rawee Thabsaeng found so much gold buried beneath his palm tree orchard on Sunday, he invited his neighbors to join in the hunt to spread the apparent wealth.
More than 100 golden plates estimated to be worth about THB25,000 each, along with jewelry and other items were quickly dug up from the farm in the Khao Chai Son district of Patthalung province.
Now the government says it all belongs to the state, but will offer partial compensation for its value.
The provenance of the artifacts seems unclear. Initial reports indicated the golden plates were inscribed with Japanese lettering, leading to speculation they might belong to the long-rumored caches of gold buried by Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Police were quickly dispatched to secure the site, and now the government’s Fine Arts Department claims the pure gold objects came from the Angkor period and are state property.
The department’s Anek Sihamat said the objects were 700 to 800 years old, and people would be paid one-third of the gold’s estimated value, NNT reported.
Photo: @south_mcot
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