A US museum has returned to Thailand 83 ancient artefacts following an American government investigation found it had received looted cultural treasures.
After a five-year investigation that featured an undercover operative, federal prosecutors alleged that looted artefacts were sold to clients who then donated them to museums at overstated appraisals to secure higher tax breaks.
In 2014, hundreds of pieces of Ban Chiang tools, beads, pottery and bronze items at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, were returned to Thailand under a non-prosecution agreement between the museum and the US attorney.