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A couple in Chumphon province have presented the government with four ancient Buddha images believed to be about 900 years old.

The four ancient bronze Buddha images are shown at the Chumphon National Museum on Friday. (Photo by Amnart Thongdee)
Ajjima Nookhong, head of the Chumphon National Museum, said the images were donated by Preecha Daenglert and his wife Raekyaem, who live in Ban Huai Yai Aye village in Phato district. The donation apparently was prompted by news reports about the discovery of ancient gold leaves and ornaments in Phatthalung province.
The couple found the Buddha images while they were digging soil about two metres deep to lay a pipe to source water from the Lang Suang River to their durian orchard in March last year.
Two of the four images are of Lord Buddha in the sitting meditation posture. They are 11 centimetres wide and 28cm tall. There are 23 small Buddha images depicted on each of the two images.
Another image shows Lord Buddha in the posture of standing and raising one hand. It is seven centimetres wide and 33cm tall. The fourth is 10cm wide and 40cm tall, with its right hand carrying a stone rod and the left hand holding a lotus.
All of the four images are structurally intact but are covered with rust. Miss Ajjima said officials would examine the area where the couple had found the images and if there were additional artefacts, more excavation would be done.
Anat Bamrungwong, director of the 14th Regional Office of the Fine Arts Department in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, said that the four images seemed to represent the Baphoun style of art dating from the 16th to 18th Buddhist centuries, or as long as 900 years ago.
The discovery was very important because it could shed light on ancient transport routes. The site where the images were discovered might have been a wildlife trail that humans later took over, Mr Anat said.