After long-standing dormancy, the Fine Arts Department has finally awakened and involved itself in the issue of the Yodia people in Myanmar.
Yodia is the Myanmar name given to the descendants of those Thais captured from Ayutthaya when the capital fell to the invading Burmese army in the 18th century. Among those who were captured and settled in the "enemy" land near Mandalay was King Uthumporn (1730-1796). He remained there until the final days of his sad life.
It’s this Ayutthaya king that poses the biggest remaining mystery.
The decision of the department to get involved in the issue has come a bit late given the progressive groundwork in Mandalay by a group of Thai independent architects and members of the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA), who earlier last year formed an association called Jitpan with Myanmar historians.
The group found artefacts and human remains at an excavation site that was used as a burial place for a Yodia settlement, known as Linzingong Cemetery.
Some people, especially in Myanmar, believe the remains are those of King Uthumporn. Their belief is based on oral history.
With cooperation from the Mandalay local administration, the Jitpan Association planned to open a memorial in honour of King Uthumporn at the excavation site last week. But the plan was postponed when the Fine Arts Department announced its interest in the issue and also said it was seeking to upgrade the project's status to government-to-government (G-to-G) level.
Intended or not, the response has discredited the association's work to date.
It remains unclear whether the G-to-G status will mean Jitpan's plan to develop the area as a royal memorial site will be forever stalled. There are reports the association was told to cease all activities and wait for a move by the government since it is likely the site will be designated a historical site.
The department also gave the impression it would ignore the association’s groundwork and will "start anew" in its study of this Yodia settlement. If that is the case, it would be a pity.
It remains unclear what has caused the department’s negative response to the association’s work. Is it something about saving face? It would not be unusual if this were the case, since the department regards itself as an authority in the field of history and archaeology, while most of the Jitpan members are from an architectural background.
However, the Jitpan Association deserves some credit in preserving the site, as Mandalay authorities had wanted to bulldoze the entire area under a tourism development plan. Some researchers have praised the association for bringing the issue to public attention.
Let’s not forget that while the Fine Arts Department was still tied down with red tape and could not do anything when the issue came up last year, the association members rushed to the archaeological front line and brought up some evidence to convince the local authorities of the site’s importance.
Without the association’s involvement, this archaeological site may have been lost forever.
The department may criticise the association’s work for failing to follow proper archaeological process, and that may affect the value of the evidence it has collected. But Pongkwan Lassus of the ASA said the association's primarily reaction when learning that Mandalay authorities were about to destroy the old cemetery was to rescue the site.
"And we did it. Now the site has gained attention as a national archaeological site," she said.
Ms Pongkwan insists the association submitted all of its reports to the Fine Arts Department, but had never received any response. In fact, the association had expected to work with experts from the Fine Arts Department, and she said the negative response left her baffled.
As events have unfolded, we have found that at least the association and the department are interested in the same issue, though their approaches may be different.
It may not be easy for an authority like the Fine Arts Department to listen to "outsiders", but an exception should be made in this case, especially since the department was unable to respond quickly to the situation in the first place.
So, the department must open its mind. Instead of throwing away all of Jitpan’s findings, the Fine Arts Department should find ways to make use of the historical information.
Let the issue belong to its original status: history and archaeology. Don’t allow the game of discrediting spoil the issue of such importance.
Ploenpote Atthakor is deputy editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.