(ANS – Battambang) – Students from the “St. Anne Orphanage” were granted scholarships to attend Don Bosco Vithayalai in Battambang, Cambodia, thanks to donor funding from Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco. The scholarships were provided in February 2022 and May 2021.

(ANS - Vientiane) - Last Thursday afternoon, June 9, 2022, at the headquarters of the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union, the Phase IV Agreement between the Salesian Society of Thailand Foundation and the Youth Development Department of the Lao Youth Union was officially signed. Signing the agreement were Mr. Piya Yathotoo, on behalf of the Lao Youth Union, and, on the Salesian side, Fr. John Bosco Dheparat Pitisant, Provincial of the "St. Paul" Province of Thailand (THA) - on which the Salesian presences in Laos and Cambodia also depend. The signing ceremony was also attended by Fr. Patrizio Maccioni, Rector of the "Don Bosco" Vocational Training Center, and Fr. John Paul Vu Van Trung, Economer, as Salesian representatives.

(ANS – Hatyai) – Today, 18 May 2022, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, the Rector Major, concluded his animation visit to the Salesian mission in Thailand. In fact, in the early hours of tomorrow morning, 19 May, he is scheduled to fly back to Italy, nearly after 15 days spent in the country, first preaching the retreat to the Councils of the Provinces, Visitations and Delegations of the East Asia - Oceania Region, and then animating the presences of the Salesian Family throughout Thailand.

(ANS – Surat Thani) – In the morning of 17 May 2022, the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime and Fr. Joseph Phuoc, the Regional Councilor, led by Fr. Dheparat Pitisant, the Provincial, travelled to St. Raphael’s Cathedral, Surat Thani, in order to meet the Salesian confreres working in the pastoral areas of the diocese.

(ANS – Bangsak) The afternoon of 16 May 2022 witnessed the paternal gaze and heart of the Rector Major as he visited the Don Bosco Home, Bangsak along with the Regional, led by the provincial Fr. Dheparat Pitisant.

Khao Lak, Thailand – may 2022 – The visit to the "Surveillance Ship No. 813" and the Ban Nam Khem tsunami memorial by the Rector Major, the Regional Councilor and the Provincial rekindled memories of Thailand’s worst losses from the Tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004. The visit to the Tsunami memorial was part of the itinerary of the Rector Major, on his journey to the Salesian missions in the South of Thailand. It is located at a village along Thailand’s Andaman coast, in the Khao Lak District of Phangnga Province. This “Surveillance Ship No. 813” belonged to the Police department and was aimed at providing safety and security to the people, and was moored in the sea. When the powerful Tsunami waves hit the shores, the ship weighing 60 tons was carried to about two kilometers from the coast. The Ship today remains as a monument in that place, and it is reminiscent of how even a 60 tons ship could not stand the ferocity of nature. The Rector Major also visited the tsunami memorial at Ban Nam Khem, which bears the names and faces of some of the 3,500 Thais and foreigners who lost their lives during this worst disaster. He also visited the nameless cemetery at Ban Maruan as well, where the mortal remains of nearly  400 unidentified victims of the tsunami are kept.  It is very significant to note, that this disaster prompted the Salesians of Thailand to establish the Don Bosco Home at Bangsak, to help the poor and orphaned children.