2,000 Year Old Gold Rings Unearthed in Thailand Reveal Ancient Ties With India

Archaeologists in Thailand have unearthed two gold rings believed to be over 2000 years old, offering fresh evidence of ancient cultural and trade links between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia . The discovery was made at the Don Yai Thong archaeological site in Ban Lat district, Phetchaburi province, located roughly 130 kilometres southwest of Bangkok.

According to Thailand's Fine Arts Department , the rings were found alongside human skeletal remains during an ongoing excavation that began in February 2026. One ring bears an inscription in the ancient Brahmi script , the writing system famously associated with Emperor Ashoka and considered the basis for nearly all Indic scripts used across India today. Experts have preliminarily read the inscription as pusarakhitasa, interpreted to mean the one protected by Pushya, an auspicious zodiac constellation in Indian astronomy. The second ring is plain and carries no pattern or inscription.

Officials including director general Phanombut Chantarachoti said the rings likely belonged to a merchant from an Indian trading community, possibly connected to the ancient Vaishya caste associated with commerce. The find strengthens existing evidence that Indian traders, sailors and scholars travelled across the Bay of Bengal centuries ago, carrying not only goods such as spices and textiles but also language, script and religious ideas into the region.

The Don Yai Thong site dates to Thailand's Iron Age, a period spanning approximately 1500 to 2500 years ago. Excavation began after local residents discovered fragments of ancient bronze drums in a rice field earlier this year. Since then, archaeologists have recovered eight human skeletons along with bronze and gold jewellery, pottery, glass beads and six bronze drums, pointing to elaborate burials of wealthy or high status individuals.

Authorities have accelerated excavation work amid concerns that rising groundwater levels and seasonal rains could damage the fragile remains and artefacts. The rings have since been moved to the Phra Nakhon Khiri Museum in Ratchaburi province for preservation and further study. The Fine Arts Department expects the excavation to conclude within the next month, after which the findings will be conserved and eventually displayed for the public.