“We can’t find them despite the fact that they appeared in photos before,” Arnat Bamrungwong, who heads the Fine Arts Office 12, said Thursday. He inspected the Wang Tawan Tok Temple with officials from several relevant agencies as well as the temple’s abbot and layman manager.

He said such artefacts deserved being listed as historical items of national significance given that their history tracing back several centuries.

Wang Tawan Tok Temple was under the patronage of Chao Chom Manda Prang during her lifetime. Born to an influential family in Nakhon Si Thammarat in the 18th century, she was a royal concubine of King Taksin. She later moved back to her hometown and according to a legend she was pregnant with the king’s child when she left his palace.

Wang Tawan Tok Temple it is believed to have inherited some of her belongings as she gave her support to the temple. The items have considerable historical value. The temple has now planned to lodge a complaint with police.