The Cultural Affairs Office of Thailand has been an active participant in the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) since its establishment in 2001.  This program was designed to enable U.S. Ambassadors around the world to provide direct grants to restore cultural objects or document information that might otherwise disappear.  To date, U.S. Embassy Bangkok has supported the following projects:

• Archaeological Heritage Management at Ban Rai and Tham Lod Rockshelters in Pang Mapha District, Mae Hong Son
  The project aimed at preservation of two rockshelters in this culturally rich and ecologically sensitive Thai highland.
• Survey and Inventory of Historic Buildings on Northern Charoen Krung Road in Bangkok
  The project preserved a record of the traditional architecture of shophouses and other buildings which are threatened by a planned subway line to be constructed in one of Bangkok’s oldest, most charming areas.
• Conservation of Mural Paintings in Mahasarakham Province (Northeast Thailand)
  Training villagers to value and care for murals from two rural temples, Wat Phodharam and Wat Parerai, means the murals will continue to tell their stories.
• Documentation of Southern Thailand’s Islamic Architectural Heritage
  The project preserves Thailand’s unique southern architecture through creating records and a photo exhibit. These styles of architecture included Islamic wooden structures with Javanese and Balinese influences, as well as later brick buildings with Gothic or Ottoman arches.
• Preservation of the Mural Paintings at Wat Baan Koh
  Wat Baan Koh temple possesses some of the most spectacular murals in Thailand.  These remote murals, painted by a monk in 1935, are now safeguarded for the future.