Not sure if anyone has posted this already,I came across this fantastic article about the tamil inscriptions found in Southeast Asia. The most fantastic piece (at least to me!) seems to be the 13th century shiva temple in the Quanzhou port in China. Read more - 'The medieval Tamil-language inscriptions in Southeast Asia and China' - http://ismaili.net/Source/0104c.html Also, ' EARLY CONTACTS OF SOUTH INDIA AND CHINA: AN EXPLORATION OF THE PHENOMENON OF HINDU DIASPORA' - http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/chinadata/geoim99/Proceedings/Pounduran_r aju.PDF Refers to the siva temple in Quanzhou. And finally 'The interactions of the Chola empire in the Chao Phraya delta' - http://std.cpc.ku.ac.th/delta/conf/Acrobat/Papers_Eng/Volume% 202/deivanayagam.pdf .
Based on the readings, I am finding that some of the inscriptions are housed in the 1. Museum Nasional in Jakarta. 2. Museum at Wat Khlong Thom, Krabi, on the west coast of peninsular Thailand. 3. Wat Mahadhatu at Nakhom Si Thammarat, south of Chaiya on the east coast of peninsular Thailand 4. Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, Jakarta 5. Wat Naramiang temple , Takua-pa, Thailand
It would be fantastic to go to these places and have a look at the chola period inscriptions..