Arms room Grand Palace Bangkok

[Ian]

Dan:

Again, we who have difficulty getting to mainland SE Asia are indebted to you for yet another excellent photo essay on our favorite sword genre. You continue to move us forward in the quest for new knowledge and insight.

I wonder if there may not be some areas of mutual interest to explore with a couple of the institutions that you visited. For example, the sad condition of many of these swords does not reflect the true state of the arms, or glory of the periods they represent. I'm wondering if these museums might let a few foreigners assist them in restoring some representative examples, so that the Thai people might better appreciate their heritage. In return we could learn a lot and obtain the pictures we seek.

After all, many of us have been lavishing loving care on our own examples for years, and we probably know as much about restoring and repairing these swords as many "experts" -- worth asking?

Ian.