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Thailand's Minister of Culture, Sabida Thaiset, presided over the opening ceremony of the special exhibition "Don Yai Thong: The Prologue to Phetchaburi Civilization" on August 24, held at the Ratcha Tham Sapha Hall inside the Phra Nakhon Khiri National Museum in Phetchaburi province, central Thailand. The exhibition runs through August 28. Note that the venue is in Phetchaburi, on the upper Gulf of Thailand coast, and not in Phuket, the well-known resort province on the southern Andaman coast — the two names sound similar but the provinces lie several hundred kilometers apart. It brings together a significant collection of artifacts excavated from the Don Yai Thong archaeological site, including bronze vessels, pottery, beads, gold ornaments, and a gold ring inscribed with ancient Indian Brahmi script. The artifacts are estimated to be between roughly 1,900 and 2,100 years old, making the find one of the most closely watched archaeological discoveries in Thailand in recent years.

The Don Yai Thong site is located in Ban Don Phlap subdistrict, Ban Lat district, Phetchaburi province, roughly 130 kilometers from Bangkok. The discovery came about almost by accident: fragments of a bronze drum turned up in a local rice field earlier this year, prompting Thailand's Fine Arts Department to step in and launch a systematic excavation beginning in February. Over the following months, archaeologists gradually uncovered a series of ancient burials, bronze implements and grave goods, slowly revealing the outline of a settlement that had lain undisturbed for roughly two millennia.

The excavation results indicate that Don Yai Thong was once a burial ground for high-status individuals. According to earlier excavation reports, archaeologists uncovered at least eight human skeletons, some with bronze vessels placed over the head and chin, dated to roughly 1,500 to 2,000 years ago, in Thailand's late prehistoric period. The burials also yielded six Dong Son-style bronze drums, glass and stone beads, and gold ornaments such as earrings and bracelets. The richness and craftsmanship of the grave goods suggest the deceased held elevated social status, and that the site may have served as a dedicated burial ground for local rulers or tribal chiefs. Archaeologists have also collected charcoal samples for laboratory radiocarbon dating to further confirm the site's precise age and the sequence of the individual burials.

The most striking discovery from the excavation is a pair of intact gold rings. One is plain and unadorned, while the other bears a rare inscription in ancient Indian Brahmi script. Experts have read the inscription as "Pusrakhitasa," meaning "belonging to Pusrakhita" or "protected by the star Pushya" (a lunar asterism in Indian astrology). Archaeologists believe the ring may originally have served as a signet ring used to confirm its owner's identity, and that its owner may have belonged to the Vaishya, or merchant, caste of ancient India. The find offers important physical evidence of trade and cultural contact between the ancient Phetchaburi region and the Indian subcontinent.

Experts from the Fine Arts Department and Silpakorn University conducted a preliminary analysis of the inscribed ring and dated it to roughly the 5th to 7th Buddhist century, or approximately 1,900 to 2,100 years ago. They noted that the discovery pushes back the timeline of contact between the Phetchaburi region and the outside world well before the Dvaravati period, long known in academic circles for its Buddhist art. It suggests the area may have participated in maritime trade networks across the Bay of Bengal as early as the turn of the Common Era, offering important evidence of early cross-sea trade and cultural exchange between Southeast Asia and South Asia, with significant implications for reconsidering the early history of Phetchaburi and central Thailand more broadly.

The exhibition was organized jointly by the Ministry of Culture and the Fine Arts Department, giving the public a chance to view these precious artifacts up close before they undergo further conservation and study. At the opening ceremony, Culture Minister Sabida Thaiset invited members of the public and interested visitors to attend, describing it as an opportunity to experience a little-known chapter of ancient civilization in Phetchaburi province. Alongside the physical artifacts, the exhibition also presents the excavation process and preliminary research findings from the Don Yai Thong site, helping visitors understand the historical context and archaeological significance behind the finds.

The venue itself, the Phra Nakhon Khiri National Museum, is a significant historical landmark. It was originally a hilltop palace commissioned by King Mongkut (Rama IV) in the 1860s in Phetchaburi province, also known in Thai as "Khao Wang." The palace was later established as a historical park and national museum, and remains one of Phetchaburi's most prominent cultural attractions. Given the sustained public interest generated by the Don Yai Thong discoveries, there have already been calls for a dedicated museum to systematically preserve and display artifacts from the site over the long term.

Officials say excavation and research at the Don Yai Thong site are continuing, and that as more skeletal remains and artifacts are uncovered and radiocarbon dating results are released, the precise age of the ancient burial ground and its place within the region's trade networks should become clearer. The Ministry of Culture and the Fine Arts Department say they will continue to monitor ongoing research and may consider longer-term display arrangements for the finds as appropriate. The "Don Yai Thong: The Prologue to Phetchaburi Civilization" exhibition is regarded as a first step in presenting this major archaeological discovery to the public in a systematic way, opening a new window for scholars to further explore the early history of central Thailand and ancient maritime exchange between Southeast Asia and South Asia.