APR 10, 2009
Pattaya, Thailand (Xinhua)-- Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva Friday handed over to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen one of the seven cross-border smuggled artifacts seized by the Thai authorities.
The hand-over ceremony was held before the opening of the 14th ASEAN Summit and Related Summits at the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel in Pattaya.
The seven artifacts are among the 50 intercepted by Thai customs officials in early 2000 as they were being smuggled from Cambodia across the border into Thailand.
Since then the authorities of both countries have closely coordinated this matter, taking into account the internal legal procedures of both countries.
Finally, on Feb. 24, 2009, the Thai cabinet adopted a resolution to restitute the seven artifacts to the government of Cambodia in accordance with an agreement signed between the two countries to combat against illicit trafficking and cross-border smuggling of movable cultural property and to restitute it to the country of origin w
