PATHUM THANI: The country's oldest partially fossilised Bryde's whale skeleton is expected to be returned to its home in Samut Sakhon within 12 months after the painstaking task of putting it back together is completed.
The Department of Mineral Resources says the traditional practice of returning the skeleton to its original place is being done in accordance with specific law.
The department and its partners -- the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, the Department of Fine Arts and a team of university academics -- have been gathering pieces of the 12.5-metre long skeleton, which is believed to date back 6,000 years, after finding them last month in tambon Amphang, Ban Phaeo district.
All 127 pieces have been taken to the department's National Geological Museum in Pathum Thani for further analysis. The job is now 90% complete and it is regarded as the most perfect whale skeleton found in the area.
Sommai Techwan, chief of the Department of Mineral Resources, said yesterday that it was now in the process of cleaning and repairing the bone pieces to give the relic the best chance of being kept in perfect condition in the long term.
Meanwhile, academic teams from the department and other universities have been studying the skeleton so that new knowledge of the ocean's ecological system will be revealed.
Fossils from sharks, marine plants and other species were also found at the site, Mr Sommai said.
He also said the department would add the skeleton to the country's list of fossil items and register it on the national treasure list.
"After we have completed the study, we will return it to the province that is ready to take care of it," he said. "Everything is being done in accordance with the law, which decrees that the skeleton belongs to the landowner. The landowner has agreed to make it the responsibility of its home province.
Mr Sommai added that it would take about one year before the skeleton is returned home.
He said academics would meet next year to discuss how best to take care of the skeleton because of its age and immense value in marine ecological terms.
The discovery site is 12 kilometres away from what was once the ocean and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources says initial analysis of the bones indicated clearly that the skeleton was that of a Bryde's whale, which is today found in the Gulf of Thailand.