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Christians
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Christians
Christianity was introduced to Thailand in the 16th and 17th centuries by
Portuguese and Spanish- Dominican,
Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries. During subsequent centuries other missionaries,
including Protestants of the Presbyterian, Baptist and Seventh-Day Adventist
sects arrived. Their converts mainly came
from ethnic minorities such as the immigrant Chinese. Despite the small number
of Thai converts, Christians have made
several major contributions in the fields
of health and education.
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The Santa Cruz Cathedral in Thon Buri
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Many Thai schools and hospitals
are Christian-affiliated. Thailand's first
printing press was Christian-introduced
and King Mongkut learned English from
the American and British missionaries
and Latin and astronomy from Bishop
Pallegoix. In an encounter perhaps revealing the reason for the scarcity of Thai
Christian converts, he reputedly told the
missionaries, "What you teach us to do
is admirable, but what you teach us to
believe is foolish." Furthermore, Christians introduced Western surgery; made
the first smallpox vaccinations; trained
the first Thai doctors in Western medicine;
and wrote the first Thai-English dictionaries.
Thailand's total Christian population
is estimated at 263,262 (1981).
A typical Catholic congregation at the cathedral.
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