In 1660, a merchant ship laden with valuable Chinese porcelain and other treasures left Bangkok and sailed south on a trading mission to India and Persia. The ship never made it. It foundered somewhere in the Gulf of Siam. This story ranks as one of the most intriguing quests in the history of treasure hunting and takes us on a search through the maritime archives of Europe, and out to the treacherous Condor Reef, off the coast of Cambodia.
In 1822 a hugh ocean going junk, named the Tek Sing, or True Star, set sail from Southern China, bound for Batavia, in Java. The modern Djakarta. On board were a hundred or more merchants, each with his personal cargo of treasures for trading overseas. But there was also a human cargo. Some 1,600 emigrants hoping to start a new life in Java and Borneo. The Tek Sing tragically never reached Batavia - it foundered on the treacherous Belvidere Reef. A disaster of Titanic proportions. This moving programme tells the story of the Tek Sing's eventual discovery. The largest wreck of a Chinese junk ever located. The largest cargo of Chinese porcelain ever recovered.