History of Christianity in Thailand
By
Za Biak Cung Nawl
1. Introduction
Thailand is one the most beautiful land
among the Southeast Asia countries due to its historical place and beautiful
beach and mountain, valley and decorated it capital city. Thailand became a
country of the world tourists interesting place to visit in the world,
especially its capital city Bangkok was regard as one of the most beautiful city
and comforting place among the Southeast Asia. The former name of Thailand was
Siam, in 1939; the kingdom of Siam changed its name to kingdom of Thailand. Christianity
comes in to Thailand through the European colonizers especially from the
Portuguese invasion of Southeast Asia in the beginning of 16th
century, Roman Catholics are the first pioneer who bring the gospel into the
land of Thais or formerly known as Kingdom of Siam. After around 250 year of
Catholics missions, protestant missionaries are also arrived in Siam. Therefore,
the aim and objective of this paper is to investigate the origin of
Christianity in Thailand and the pioneers of Catholicism and protestant church
in Thailand with Geographical, socio-political, economic and religious
information or profile of the country.
2. Demographics of Thailand
The population of Thailand is about
67.2 million. Out of this, 36% reside in Central Thailand, 32% in the North
Eastern Thai or Isan or Lao region, 8% in Northern Thailand and another 8% in
Southern Thailand. [1]Thailand
covers a land area of 513,115 square kilometres (198,114 square miles), extends
about 1,620 kilometres (1,007 miles) from north to south and 750 kilometres
(482 miles) at its widest point from east to west, or approximately the same
size as France, with a coastline of approximately 2,700 kilometres (1,143 miles)
on the Gulf of Thailand and 865 kilometres (537 miles) along the Indian Ocean.
Life expectancy at birth: male 73.83 years; female: 76.33 years; total population
71.45 years (2012). Official language of the country is Thai and the capital
city is Bangkok.[2]
a. Political
Condition
The Thailand government is based on a
constitutional monarchy quite similar to that of the United Kingdom, in which a
Prime Minister serves as head of a parliamentary government and a hereditary
Thai king functions as head of state. This form of Thailand government has been
in place since 1932 following nearly 700 years of outright rule by various
lines of Thai kings; the current Thai King, His Majesty King Bhumibol Aduyadej
(Rama IX) is the reigning monarch of the Chakri Dynasty that has ruled Thailand
since the fall of Ayutthaya and the founding of the Rattakosin Era. The widely
revered Thai King serves as spiritual leader of the country as well as head of
state, but wields no outright political authority. The Thailand Government is
formed by a coalition of political parties headed by a Prime Minister.[3]
b. Religious
Condition
About eighty-five percent of the people
are Theravada Buddhists, and the monarch must be a Buddhist. Thai Buddhism,
however, is a syncretic religion that borrows from earlier animistic beliefs,
Hinduism, and Christianity.[4]
Approximately ten percent of the population is Muslim, primarily ethnic Malays
in the south. Although Christian missionaries have been active in the country
since the nineteenth century, only about one percent of the population is
Christian. The Christian population consists primarily of non-Tai ethnic
minorities in the north and ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese. There are small
numbers of animists, Confucianists, Taoists, Mahayana Buddhists, and Hindus.[5]
c.
Social
condition
Thailand’s population is relatively
homogeneous, with more than 85% speaking a Tai language and sharing a common
culture. This core population includes the central Thai (33.7% of the population),
northeastern Thai or Isan (34.2%), northern Thai or Lanna (18.8%), and southern
Thai (13.3%). Thailand is also a multi-ethnic country with more than 30
distinct ethnic groups, including the Chinese (about 14%, mainly Min and
Hakka), engaged in business and commerce throughout the country, Malays, in the
southern peninsula near the border, and Khmers, all along the Cambodian border.
There are also numerous hill tribes, living primarily in the mountains of the
north (Akha, Hmong, Karen) but also in northeastern and central lowlands (Kui,
Mon), and in southern Thailand (Moken, Semang). Official language of Thailand
is Thai.[6]
d.
Economic
Condition
Thailand’s economy remains
export-dependent, with exports accounting for 60% of a GDP that stood at
roughly Thai Bakh 7.7 trillion (approximately USD 270 billion) as of 2008. This
positions the economy of Thailand as the 2nd largest in Southeast Asia, after
Indonesia, a distinction it has held for many years. Thailand’s exports, worth approximately
USD180 billion per annum, consist primarily of agricultural products, including
fish and rice, the latter of which Thailand is the largest exporter of in the
world, as well as textiles, rubber, automobiles, jewelry, and computers/electronic
appliances[7].
3. History of Christianity in Thailand
The Portuguese were the first Europeans
to arrive in Thailand in 1518 and they were allowed to open a Christian
mission. In fact the Thai king gave a large donation to build the first
Christian (Roman Catholic) church in the country. English traders who arrived
in 1612 were agents for the East India Company and were more interested in
building a factory than a church. Under King Narai, who was interested in the
West, European missionaries and adventurers exerted considerable influence at
court. However, when King Narai died in 1688, members of the government,
fearing the missionaries proselytizing efforts, killed or expelled all
Westerners from Thailand. It remained a closed country to the Europeans for the
next 100 years. In
1780, King Taksin allowed French missionaries to enter Thailand, and like a
previous Thai king, helped them build a church.[8]
a. Arrival of Catholic Missionary
The first catholic missionaries to
Thailand were Dominican fathers or Friar
Hieronymus of the Cross and Sebastian of
Canto, they arrived in Ayutthaya former capital city of Thailand
in the year 1567 and they were killed only two years of missionary work in 1569.[9] Franciscan missionaries first arrived
in 1582, and the first Jesuit reach Thailand in 1607. By 1662, there was a
Christian community of roughly 2,000 people in Ayutthaya, served by 1 Spanish
and 10 Portuguese priests. In August 1662, Paris Foreign Mission or Missions
ÉtrangEeres de Paris (MEP) sent three missionaries to Ayutthaya, including
Pierre Lambert de la Motte, who was an apostolic vicar as well; and in 1664, a
second apostolic vicar, François Pallu, also was sent to Ayudhya along with a
group of companions. Also, in 1664, the French missionaries in Ayudhya held a
synod in which it was agreed, among other things, to open a seminary.[10]
Those mentioned above are the main catholic pioneer missionaries in Thailand.
b. Catholic Church Growth
In 1669, a papal bull, Speculatores,
was issued giving the apostolic vicars full authority over all Catholics in
Ayutthaya, which they had not had before. That same year the mission opened its
first hospital, and in the ensuing years the work of the mission prospered so
that by 1674 there were roughly 600 Thai Catholics. There were many more
Catholics of other nationalities in the Kingdom of Ayutthaya, including
Vietnamese, Portuguese, and Japanese Christians. In 1688, however, the
apparently pro-Catholic King Narai of Ayudhya was deposed and the new king,
Phra Phetracha, engaged in a severe oppression of Christianity. From that point
onwards, the church suffered under several periods of repression and Catholic
missionaries were closely regulated in their work. Matters improved with the
establishment of the Chakri Dynasty in 1782, and in 1785 King Phra Phutthayotfa
(Rama I) invited Catholic missionaries to return to Thailand. Catholicism began
to grow, slowly, with about 2,500 Catholics in Thailand in 1802 and roughly
3,000 by 1811. In 1838 Msr. Jean-Baptiste Pallegoix was consecrated as bishop
for Thailand, and in 1841 the Vatican established the Mission of Oriental
Thailand, including Thailand and Laos with Pallegoix as its apostolic vicar.[11]
By 1875, the Thailand Mission had roughly 10,000 Christians, 20 European
missionaries, and 8 Thai priests. From this point onwards, the mission's work
continued to grow rapidly. In 1885, it established its first modern
Western-style school in Bangkok, Assumption College. St. Louis Hospital was
founded in 1898. After 1910, Catholic work began to spread quite rapidly into
new areas of the country, particularly in northern Thailand. Catholicism in
Thailand expanded in a number of other ways, including the establishment of
many new dioceses, and the entry of numerous religious orders. In 1965, the
Vatican established two archbishoprics in Thailand, Bangkok and
Thare-Nongaseng, and in 1983 Archbishop Joseph Kiamsun Nittayo was consecrated
by Pope John Paul II as Thailand's first cardinal. By 2005, there were roughly
300,000 Catholics in Thailand.[12]
4. Arrival Protestant Missionary
Ann Hazeltine Judson, the wife of
Adoniram Judson was the first missionary who brings the gospel of Jesus Christ
to Thai people in Myanmar. Ann became interested in the Thais prisoners of war
and began to work with them. She studied the Thai language and translated a
Burmese catechism into Thai; the Baptist Press in Sarampore, India, published
her work in 1819. The first Thais believer was Moung Shway-pwen, a young man
converted to Christianity in Myanmar through the work of Mrs. Ann.[13]
The first Protestant missionaries who arrived in Thailand were Carl Augustus Friederich Gutzlaff, a German medical
doctor and the Rev. Jacob Tomlin, an English man from London Missionary Society
arrived on August 23, 1828. After three years of labor, a Chinese, Mr.
Boon Tee, was converted to Christianity, and then the two missionaries left for
China due to inconvenience, because, Edict of Religious In toleration in
October 1730, that stated 1. No Christian literature can be put into Thai and
Pali languages. 2. No one is permitted to teach the Christian faith to the
Thai, Mon and Lao peoples. 3. No one is allowed to convert the Thais, Mons, and
Laos to Catholicism. 4. No one is allowed to criticize the Thai religion.[14]
As mentioned above, the first protestant missionary who first encounter with
the Thai people are Mrs. Ann, Carl and Jacob, hence they could be called as the
pioneer of the protestant Christianity in Thailand.
a. American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM), Missionaries
Jointly supported by the
Congregational and Presbyterian Churches in America sent out their first
American missionary to Thailand, David Abeel, M.D; he reached Bangkok on June
30, 1831. Dr. Abeel’s initial work involved the distribution of medicine and
Christian books to Chinese boarding ships returning to China. His failing
health forced him to leave Thailand permanently on November 5, 1832.
Charles Robinson, Stephen
Johnson, and their wives arrived in Bangkok from America on July 5, 1834.
Johnson focused on the Chinese. Robinson concentrated his work on the Thais. In
1836, Robinson printed the first publication in Thailand on a wooden and stone
press brought from Singapore.
Dan Beach Bradley, M.D.,
and his wife arrived in Bangkok on July 18, 1835. He is described by Wells as
the greatest American Board missionary and the one who served longer than any
other missionary to Thailand; his term of service lasted thirty-eight years. Dr. Bradley opened a dispensary
and began treating people with all kinds of illness. He treated up to one
hundred patients a day; most were of Chinese descent.
A most influential
American Board missionary was Jesse Caswell. Caswell arrived in Bangkok with
his wife in 1840. Caswell’s relationship with Prince Mongkut significantly
contributed to Thailand’s tolerance of the Christian faith. The work of the
American Board ended in December 1849.[15]
b. American Baptist
Missionaries
John Taylor Jones, D.D,
and his wife reached Thailand on March 25, 1833. During the approximate time of
Jones’ arrival, significant progress was being achieved in the international
relationship between the United States and Thailand, resulting from the first
American treaty between the two countries. This resulted in protection for the
Protestant missionaries who were residing in Thailand. In July 1835, William
Dean, D.D., arrived in Bangkok to work with the Chinese of the Chiew dialect
and assumed the Chinese work started by Jones. Jones concentrated on the work
of translation and was credited with the first completion of the Thai New
Testament translation in 1843. Dean was recognized as the first church planter
to organize the first Protestant Church in Thailand. The church had eleven
charter members, three of whom were Chinese. Dean was the first pastor of the
church. After five years of mission work in Thailand, they gained a
significant number of converts and had thirty to thirty-five Thais regularly
attending Sunday worship services. The first Thai Baptist Church was organized
in April 1861. By 1867, after thirty years of missionary effort, the American
Baptists had won and baptized a total of forty-five converts. In 1882, the
number American Baptists had grown from fifty-three members to an approximate
total of five hundred members. By 1893, the work of the American Baptists,
practically, came to an end due to a lack of missionary reinforcement.[16]
By looking at the activities of ABM, they are more successful than ABCFM.
c. American Presbyterian
Missionaries
The American Presbyterian
Church formed their own missionary agency in 1837 and sent out their first
missionary couple to the Chinese, Robert W. Orr and his wife. Orr was stationed
in Singapore and visited Thai-land in the fall of 1838. Upon his
recommendation, the American Presbyterians started a work in Bangkok in August
1840 with the arrival of William P. Buell and his wife, their first missionaries
to the Thai people. Buell was able to master the Thai language. He preached in
Thai and witnessed to local Thais, using Bibles, Gospel tracts, and Christian
books. However, as a result of his wife’s failing health, they returned to
America on February 24, 1844. Thus, the work of the American Presbyterians was
suspended. According to McFarland, the work of the American Presbyterians
really began three years after this suspension on March 22, 1847 with the
arrival of Stephen Mattoon, his wife, and Samuel House, M.D. Mattoon became the
first United States Consul in Bangkok. After nine years in Thailand, the
American Presbyterians were still struggling to gain even a single convert.
Missionary reinforcements began to reach Thailand in 1858 with the arrival of
Daniel McGilvary and Jonathon Wilson and his bride and, in 1860, with the
arrival of Samuel G. McFarland and N. A. McDonald and their wives. Hence, began
the transition in Thailand’s missionary history from the pioneer to the
expansion era. These new additions were permanent additions to the missionary
force in Thailand. Wells describes these new laborers as “consecrated men and
women of vision and In September 1878, the first Presbytery of Thailand was
organized with four members: Mattoon, House, McGilvary, and Wilson. The true
pioneers of the American Presbyterians were the Mattoons and the Houses. From
the base of the Presbytery of Thailand in Bangkok, Protestant Christianity
spread out in every direction.[17]
Due to the perception of Thais on Christianity, many of protestant missionary
were not very successful in their mission, the Dr. Chansamone Saiyasak “The
Thais people thinks Christians as colonizer, who want to change Thai culture,
literature, religion, and etc.” Most of the missionaries served to the Chinese
rather than Thai, due to edict of religious in tolerance. As already mentioned,
most of the protestant missionaries are medical missionary. Therefore, medical
ministry is more emphasis rather than evangelizing.
5. Mission Strategies of
Protestant Missionaries
1.
Personal Evangelism,
Preaching the gospel
2.
Bible and literature
distribution
3.
Providing medical
treatment and caring the sickness of people
4.
Educational ministry,
educating people
5.
Bible Translation,
printing and Newspaper[18]
6. Church Growth in Thailand
After World War II there
were lots of new missionaries coming into Thailand. Overseas Missionary
Fellowship (an international and interdenominational Protestant Christian
missionary society with an international Centre in Singapore) was one of the
agencies that deployed many missionaries in Thailand. Most of these workers
went to places and people where the gospel had not been shared. This was tough
work but fruitful as churches were established in more places throughout
Thailand. After 1975 the migration patterns changed and rural people started to
migrate to Bangkok. Along with Buddhists migrating into the city, Thai
Christians were also migrating. The Christians shared their faith and started
churches in the city. Most of the churches started in Bangkok since 1975 were
started by migrants, among migrants. Migrants are more open to the gospel and
other changes. At the same time ethnic minorities in the mountains were opening
up to Christ in significant ways. The growth of the church among these minorities
has been twice as fast as among the Thai. These animist peoples faced lots of
pressure on their way of life due to communism, war and modernization. The
gospel has spread through families and clans. The most significant factor in
someone becoming a Christian is a family member who has already been converted.
Many who have believed in Bangkok have taken the gospel back to their villages.
This trend is increasing at this time, especially as the ease of travel to and
from Bangkok is improving. According to Christian protestant population
statistics in 2014, there are 407,685 members in Thailand.[19]
By seeing the church growth in Thailand it was only after WWII that the church
in Thailand was started to growth rapidly.
7. Present Missional
Challenges of Thailand
Since Thailand is
predominantly Buddhist country, evangelization of the Thai people is one of the
biggest missional challenges for Christians. And it is hierarchical society
that Thailand thirst social justice. Almost all the young
people in Thailand live in worldly desire, spending time in the night club,
addicted by drug and alcohol that they need to be free from such bondage. Thus,
mission to the youth and establishing youth ministry is the challenges that
Christians have for the youth of Thailand Socio-economic and
political corruption hit Thailand for many year, in order to destroy corruption
social justice gospel is need for the people of Thailand, that is the
challenges.[20]
Though the constitution
of Thailand give the freedom of religion in the country there are still
discrimination against religious minority in the mindset of the major Buddhist,
in order to settle down such problem, Christian have the challenges to make
inter-faith relation and peace between the religious groups.
· Most of the earlier
missionaries in Thailand fail to win the soul of Thais people to Christ due to
lack of knowing social and cultural context of Thai people, the missionaries
could not contextualize the gospel in Thailand, therefore, process of evangelization
was too slow. Hence we have a great challenges to know about the social and
cultural, historical background of the people in order to approach the Thai
people and bringing them to Christ.
8. Prayer Request
The people of Thailand
are in very need of Christ now, therefore we have to pray for them that, Christ
may reveal himself through his followers in Thailand, Christian, so that the
entire people of Thailand may became to know Jesus Christ and accept him as their
personal savior and LORD. Let’s pray for evangelization of Thailand, youth of
Thailand, the Christian in Thailand so that they could stand as an example for
their Thais friends and win the people of Thais for Christ through their
example living.
9. Conclusion
By looking at the church
history in Thailand, the first pioneers of Christianity in Thailand were
Catholics, and second protestant. Catholics missionaries are more successful
than Protestants. Most of the Protestant missionaries were not much successful
in their mission due to edict of religious in tolerance which announce by king,
most of the protestant missionaries were only allowed to ministers among the
Chinese inhabitant. The first Christian in Thailand was mostly Chinese rather
than Thais. Medical missionaries are more in numbers than evangelical ministers
that is one of my observations that made slow to grow Christian population in
Thailand. However, the main reason that hampers evangelization process to Thais
people was their perception of Christianity as, colonizers, foreign religion,
difference culture and etc. and lack of missionaries understanding of Thais
context and fail in contextualization of the gospel was also one of the causes
that led unsuccessful mission. However, it was by the grace of God that the
church in Thailand was rapidly growth in term of members and spirituality after
the World War II through the missionary enterprise such as OMF and others.
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Evers, George. The
Church in Asia. New Delhi: ISPCK, 2005.
Saiyasak, Dr. Chansamone.
The History of Christian Interactions
with Buddhist: Thais during Pioneer Protestant Missionary
Era in Thailand, 1828-1860. Belgium: Evangelical Theological Faculty's
Doctoral Colloquium, 2003.
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