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Burmese Archaeologists dig into Tha



Subject: Burmese Archaeologists dig into Thailand's past


The Nation (Bangkok)
Jan 10, 94

Patima Klinsong

 A Burmese archaeologist claims he and his team have found the brick 
foundation of a wooden building built by the Thais within King 
Bayinnoung's Palace in the township of Bago, 50 miles north of Rangoon.  
He also claims that the building was lived in by Thai princess Chao Fa 
Supankullaya, King Naresuan the Great's older sister.
  U Nyunt Han, Deputy Director General of Burma's Department of 
Archaeology, revealed this information to Thai archaeologists of the Fine 
Arts Department during a brief seven hour layover in Bangkok on a 
transfer from Vietnam to Chinag Mai, last Tuesday.
  King Bayinnoung's Palace is in the ancient city of Hanthawaddy, Pego, 
known as Hongsawaddy to Thais, which dates back to the 16th century, and 
is currently called Bago.
  King Bayinnoung, knows as the "Omnipotent Conqueror" was a great kin g 
of the 16th century Burmese empire who united many independent towns, 
including Mon, Pyu, Ava and Marid, to build Burma as a great empire.  He 
was the first Burmese king to achieve success in conquering the Ayutthaya 
Empire.
  "I believe the recently unearthed building's foundation was resided in 
by Thai Princess Supankullaya" said U Nyunt Han.
  Although there are few standing remains on the site, as the entire 
palace and Hanthawaddy city were destroyed and set on fire during the 
invasion of the northern Arakanese in 1599, the archaeologists are 
confident enough to identify the remains of each building within the 
compound.
	"We found the remains of a palace.  We tried to identify what 
palace it was and who the palace belonged to.  We have ancient literary 
records and we base our research on the study of the ancient records." he 
said.  He added that there are approximately 68 buildings inside the 40 
acre compound.
	We found the remains of a square brick form.  On top of the 
square brick from platform sits a teak wood form.  The superstructure of 
this building was made of brick and wood" he said.
  Nikom Musikacama, the Fine Arts Dept. deputy director general who 
recently visited the site explained that the pattern of the foundation 
is  not traditional Burmese but is traditional Thai.
  


U Nyunt Han will give a talk on archaeological excavation in Burma on Jan 
13, 1:30 pm at the National Museum, Bangkok Thailand.
For details, call 224 2050.