Fri, May 24, 2013 00:56:51 AM
Bangkok Post
Fri, May 24, 2013 00:56:51 AM
Bangkok Post
NAKHON RATCHASIMA - The mayor of Dan Kla district claims he was gifted with hundreds of artifacts by an unknown man he met on the street, reports said.
Reporters met with the mayor Boonsong Ritdanklang at his home on Monday after receiving reports that he is in possession of more than 100 artifacts such as Buddha images, daggers, swords and sickles made from bronze and brass.
Mr Boonsong told reporters that on Nov 19, 2011, his 44th birthday, he dreamed that he was in a castle full of treasure.
Three days later, he said, he felt that he needed to get out of his house.
With no destination in mind, the mayor said, he drove until he reached Dan Khun Thod hospital where he parked to get something to eat as he was hungry.
Near the hospital he spotted a man selling artifacts on the roadside. The mayor said he had no interest in the things the man was selling, but he felt sorry for the poor man so he offered him some food.
After the meal, he looked around at the goods that were laid on ground and realised that they looked liked the treasures he saw in his dream, so he decided to purchase a bronzer dagger for 5,000 baht.
“He refused to take my money, he said he didn’t need it and handed me the dagger for free,” he said.
“Several times after that, I felt the urge to leave the house with no destination in mind, and every time I ended up meeting that poor man,” the mayor continued his story, “and every time he gave me artifacts to worship at home.”
Mr Boonsong said that several people heard about his story and started visiting his home to worship the Buddha artifacts. He said he also gave away some of them to other people, but they ended up returning them to him.
He said they told him they could not keep them at their homes.
Mayor Boonsong also said that many monks that he did not know visited his home and told him that he owned the artifacts in a past life, and had been entrusted to take care of them again in this lifetime.
Mr Boonsong said he had no knowledge about the artifacts but since he had come into possession of them people had come to worship them and this brought unity in his community.
“I’m building a place to store these items where people can come and worship them,” he said.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to get the word out to people with a knowledge of history and artifacts to come in and help identify which period these artifacts are from,” the mayor added.
