Police seize old Khmer statues at border

Thai police have seized five Khmer sandstone sculptures believed to be about 1,000 years old, and that they were smuggled from Cambodia into Thailand's Sa Kaeo border province. Combined unit of police and soldiers intercepted a suspicious pickup truck and arrested its driver in Aranyaprathet district. Searching the vehicle, police found five 70cm tall Khmer-style statues, believed to be ancient, covered by fertiliser bags without the documents that normally are supposed to accompany antique objects being carried across borders. Driver Panupong Sukkho was detained for questioning. He confessed to intending to deliver the statues to a businessman in Bangkok for resale to tourists. The driver claimed that the artefacts are newly-made. The sculptures have been turned over to the Fine Arts Department to verify if they are ancient statues or not. However, they were believed to be about 1,200 years old, according to the police. From mcot