National Archives of Thailand

The National Archives of Thailand (NAT) is a Thai government agency under Fine Arts Department of the Ministry of Culture, established in 1916 (B.E.2459) as a section of the Vajirayan National Library of Thailand (Bangkok National library.) It has become and functions as a division of the Fine Arts department since 1952 (B.E) 2495).

The NAT employs 131 persons and has an annual budget of 80 million baht.[1]

The National Archives is responsible for collecting, preserving public and other historical records because of their archival value and make them available for public. We also are advisor for government agencies on records management and records preservation. As the government's national archive , we hold records from the reign of King Rama IV to the present time for everyone to discover and use. The National Archives' collection of over one million historical government and public records , our collection includes paper, photographs, posters, maps, videos tapes, and sound recordings. As a general rule, government records are transferred to the National Archives when they are 30 years old under the Prime Minister's Regulation on Records Keeping issued in 1983 (B.E.2526 and second and additional version, B.E.2548. Archivists will appraise those records which contain historical values for permanent preservation. Moreover valuable records donated by individuals who are interested in the archives affairs also preserved as archival collections.[2]

Collection

As of 30 September 2011, the National Archives had 10,285 written documents, 24,508 wet plate collodions, 444,009 photos, 808,693 films, 20,062 maps and plans, 2,696 posters, 4,472 calendars, 4,467 audio records, 3,941 visual records, 9,503 microfilms, 734 compact discs, 34 digital visual records, 43,628 bound volumes, government documents and rare books, 1,867 meeting minutes, memos and incident records and 677,269 important news clippings. The oldest document in the collection is a paper document dating to the reign of King Rama IV (1851-1868).[1]

Thailand's archives hold few materials relating to foreign countries. For example, it has no materials about Vietnam, Cambodia, or Laos, but does have a number of Chinese documents. According to Thai culture researcher Phuthorn Bhumadhon, when he wants to search the history of the Ayutthaya period, he has to go to archives in France.[1]

Researcher access

Foreign researchers are permitted to use the archives after completion of a researcher registration form and submitting letters of permission.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Svasti, Pichaya (2015-08-31). "Going digital". Bangkok Post. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "History". National Archives of Thailand. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Regulation on the Permission of Foreign Researchers to Conduct Research in National Archives of Thailand". National Archives of Thailand. Retrieved 31 May 2015.

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