TWO ancient artefacts from Thailand, which had been on display in the United States, will be returned to the country.
Reports in the Bangkok Post said the Thai consulate in Los Angeles had informed the Foreign Ministry that a lintel smuggling case had been concluded after the defendant allowed the US government to take the two lintels displayed at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.
A ministry spokesman, Tanee Sangrat, said the case had finished earlier than expected.
The US Homeland Security Investigations had earlier assisted the Thai government to retrieve the artefacts, which many believed were smuggled out of Thailand a long time ago, he said.
After the museum removed the lintels from its list, the US government would send them back to Thailand, said Sangrat.
The museum on Saturday agreed to return them after it entered a mediation process with the US government.
The artefacts, each weighing about 680kg, were taken from the Prasat Khao Lon historical sanctuary in Sa Kaeo and the Prasat Nong Hong in Buri Ram.
The Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California said the lintels are believed to have been stolen and later sold to European merchants in the late 1960s.
The lintel from Prasat Nong Hong was given to the museum in 1966. The museum bought the other one in 1968.