BANGKOK: 10 January 2011 --Thailand will
shortly have a new provincial - the announcement of the
decision of the Rector Major with his Council was formally
made today from the Provincial House in Bangkok. The new
Provincial will be Fr Paul Somngam Prasert.
Fr Prasert was born 25-04-1962 at Udon
Thani, Thailand, one of Thailand's north-eastern provinces
close to the border with Laos. The Salesians have a large
school complex in Udon Thani, and mission station.
Since 2007, Fr Prasert has been the
Rector and Principal of Ban Pong-Sarasit, to the north-east
of Bangkok, towards the border with Myanmar. He is
also the current Vice Provincial, a role he has held since
2002.
The Thai Salesian Province has
approximately 90 members. It has retained a stable numerical
configuration over the past ten years, though vocations are
hard to come by in a country so predominantly Buddhist. In a
nation of some 65 million people, less than 1% are Christian
and the Catholic population is around .5%. Yet the
Salesian impact over the 70 plus years of presence in the
country has been significant. Salesian schools are large and
very much esteemed by the population and by civil
authorities; the bishops (amongst whom is Bishop Joseph
Prathan sdb) are delighted with the evangelisation that is
achieved through the schools; there are many other
significant works for poor young people, both in the north
of the country, amongst hill tribes, and to the south,
especially in response to the 2004 Tsunami disaster.
Significant too is the work of the Skills Development Centre
for the Blind, managed for years by the much decorated
(civilly and ecclesiastically) Fr Charles Velardo, at
Pakkred, north of Bangkok. The recent visit of Don Bosco's
Casket to Thailand was viewed as a triumph in terms of its
spiritual impact on all people who came into contact with
this event, of any religion or none. They were in the tens
of thousands, as regularly reported in this e-letter, thanks
to the untiring efforts of the outgoing Provincial, Fr John
Baptist Depharat.
The Thai province also has an important
mission presence on the indo-chinese peninsula, chiefly in
Cambodia (Poipet, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville), but with
another developing presence, thanks to past pupils from
Thailand, in Vientianne, Laos.
The installation of the new provincial
will take place on Saturday 5 February 2011 _________________
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