The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) () in Thailand was officially established in 1966 when it was dedicated for missionary work by Gordon B. Hinckley, of the Quourm of the Twelve Apostles. A previous attempt at missionary work was made in 1854 when church president Brigham Young sent four missionaries to Thailand (known as Siam at the time). The only missionary to arrive was Elam Luddington, whose only baptisms during his four-month service in Thailand were a non-Thai ship captain and his wife on April 9, 1854.
The first modern LDS Church missionaries in Thailand were assigned from the church's Southern Far East Mission. They arrived in Bangkok on February 2, 1968. Five missionaries were sent from Taiwan and one from Hong Kong under the direction of President Keith E. Garner who presided over the mission from headquarters in Hong Kong. The five missionaries from Taiwan were Elders Peter W. Basker, Craig G. Christensen, L. Carl Hanson, Larry R. White and Robert W. Winegar. The missionary sent from Hong Kong was Elder Alan H. Hess.
The first known baptism of a native in Thailand was Nangnoi Thitapoora on September 11, 1966. She was taught by U.S. servicemen.
The Book of Mormon was translated twice. The first translation, which took about six years, was completed in 1976 by Srilaksana Suntarahut. A new translation was completed in 2010.
Missionary work was challenging in the 1970s and 1980s because of restrictions from Thai immigration law that prohibited more than 100 foreign missionaries in Thailand at a time and then required that missionaries leave the country every 90 days to renew their visas. Baptisms grew after 1992, when the law was repealed, and missionaries were required to renew their visas only once during their two-year service.
The Bangkok Mission was established on July 19, 1973, with Paul D. Morris as its first president. The church's first stake in Thailand was organized on June 19, 1995, by Neal A. Maxwell. In April 2015, Thomas S. Monson announced plans to build the church's first temple in Bangkok. The project was expected to be completed in four years, but was subjected to many delays, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the LDS Church reported 23,450 members and one mission in Thailand. The Bangkok Thailand Temple, Thailand's first, was dedicated on 22 October 2023, by Ronald A. Rasband. In February 2024 the Thailand Bangkok West and the Thailand Bangkok East missions were announced creating two mission from the original Thailand Bangkok Mission.
History
Beginnings In the early 1850s, church president Brigham Young, sent four missionaries to serve in Siam (Thailand). Upon arriving in Calcutta, India in 1853, only two of the four missionaries remained assigned to serve in Siam as a result of challenges due to the war between the Burmese government and the East India Trading Company. Elam Luddington and Levi Savage attempted to sail to Siam from Burma, but were forced to return to India when their ship encountered problems. They arrived in Burma in August 1853. Because Savage was too ill to go to Siam, Luddington arrived in Siam alone on April 6, 1854. Luddington's only baptisms were the ship captain, James Trail, and his wife, three days after his arrival. Luddington would spend a little over four months in Siam, working only with European residents as he was unable to speak Thai. During his service, Luddington was stoned twice and poisoned once. He returned to San Francisco on June 27, 1855, due to his lack of success and the language barrier.
Missionary efforts The influence of the LDS Church was largely absent from Thailand for about a century. Church members in the 1950s and early 1960s held informal church services before they were given official authorization to hold church meetings in Bangkok in 1961. Some small congregations of United States servicemen were established on some United States Air Force bases during the Vietnam War. In 1962, Robert S. Taylor, president of the South Far East Mission, organized the first official congregation of church members. Latter-day Saint military servicemen added numbers to the group during the war. In 1973 and 1974, Gordon B. Hinckley traveled to Thailand to inquire as to whether the country was prepared for proselyting. A Mutual Improvement Association was organized in September 1964, meeting in a private restaurant after having outgrown the living room of a home. The first non-Thai person baptized in Thailand since 1854 was a serviceman named Jim McElvee. He was baptized on January 21, 1966.
On March 27, 1966, Keith E. Garner organized the Thailand District of the Southern Far East Mission with Stirling Merrill as president. The congregation in Bangkok had over 200 members by July 1966, so the Bangkok Branch was organized with Gordon M. Flammer as branch president. The country was officially dedicated for missionary work by Gordon B. Hinckley on November 2, 1966, in Lumphini Park. The area became a part of the Southern Far East Mission, presided over by Keith B. Garner. Hinckley found property for $77,000 for a chapel, which was purchased in 1967. Due to struggles receiving Thai government approval, it wasn't until February 2, 1968, that missionaries were allowed to enter the country. Six missionaries from Taiwan and Hong Kong were transferred to Bangkok: Peter Basker, Craig Christensen, Alan Hess, Carl Hanson, Larry White, and Robert Winegar. Soon thereafter, the missionaries began an intensive three-week language program at the American University Alumni School and had the missionary lessons translated into Thai by a translator. Full-time proselyting began on March 6, 1968, and the first missionary lesson was held in the Thai language on March 17 with the help of Anan Eldredge. Boonepluke and Rabiab Klaophin, baptized on May 15, 1968, were the first converts by missionaries in Thailand.
In June 1968, Garner decided to send missionaries to Korat, the third largest city in Thailand. The church's influence grew quickly in Korat, with baptism services held monthly. W. Brent Hardy replaced Garner as president of the Southern Far East Mission in July 1968. Re-translations of the missionary lessons were initiated, but this was difficult because the hired translators were unfamiliar with LDS Church terminology and the Thai language doesn't have equivalent words for Christian subjects. In December 1968, Ezra Taft Benson, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, attended a quarterly district conference in Bangkok. There, he had the opportunity to meet King Rama IX of Thailand. Benson personally presented the King with a Thai Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith's Testimony, and a copy of Meet the Mormons.; By the end of 1968, there were eight missionaries working in Thailand. In 1969, the numbers had grown to twenty-five missionaries. For a short period of time beginning in 1969, Thailand become a part of the Southeast Asian Mission with G. Carlos Smith Jr. as president, allowing more time to be focused on Thailand as a mission country, allowing missionary work to move faster. In 1970, construction began on the Asoke Chapel, on the property that was purchased in 1967, mostly funded by Latter-day Saint servicemen stationed in Thailand. In August 1974, after a slow construction process, the first Latter-day Saint chapel was dedicated in Bangkok. In 1970, missionaries were sent to Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen with twelve other cities opening up for missionary work in the six years that followed. Smith created a missionary basketball program in 1969 to increase the church's visibility in the surrounding areas. The team played in tournaments and received much publicity. In August, Music and the Spoken Word from Salt Lake City was aired over Thai radio in Korat and an open house program was initiated in Chiang Mai. The general missionary approach at the time was to introduce non-members to the LDS Church in a casual and non-threatening manner.
In order for missionaries in Thailand to have closer supervision, the Thailand Mission was created, with Paul D. Morris as president, on July 19, 1973.; The name was changed to the Thailand Bangkok Mission on June 20, 1974. The experience Morris had with Asia and Asian culture allowed him to improve LDS Church and Thai relations, working to adapt teaching materials and pictures to the Thai culture. Morris initiated translation work of books and church manuals, strengthened local leadership, increased media attention of missionaries and members through the radio, and encouraged local members to publish articles about the church in local newspapers. During his presidency, women missionaries were sent to Thailand, in part to help with welfare services. In 1975, Morris started a missionary singing group called Sidthichon Yuk Sud Tai ("the Latter-day Saints"). They toured the country, performing in front of thousands, blending Western and Thai sounds. They performed on television in Bangkok and received good reviews, increasing interest in the LDS Church.
Harvey D. Brown became the second president of the Thailand Bangkok Mission in August 1976. His presidency focused on building and re-building the image of the church in Thailand. The "Sidtichon Yuk Sud Tai" group continued to perform, raising money for charities and programs such as the Thai International Red Cross, Bangkok Teachers College, hospitals, and a drug rehabilitation program. They received an invitation to perform for the King's charity event, meeting the King and Queen afterwards. During its more than four year long existence, the group appeared on TV 70 times, recorded five albums, performed for royalty three times, and did 500 live performances for over one million people in all of Thailand's major cities. After the visa problems improved and the LDS Church was viewed more positively, the group was disbanded by Brown in July 1979, having fulfilled its intended purpose.
At the end of 1976, 170 missionaries were serving in Thailand; however, government pressures required the missionary count to drop to 125 missionaries. By 1985, less than 100 missionaries served in Thailand. This policy was changed in 1992. In 1980, Marion D. Hanks, a church general authority, became the executive administrator over Southeast Asia. He created a refugee mission that took care of refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from the Vietnam War in Thailand and also preached to them for ten years. In 1988, Anan Eldrege was the first Thai to preside over the Thailand Bangkok Mission. He initiated the first temple excursions to the Philippines.
First Thai church members The first Thai convert to the LDS Churchwas Nangnoi Thitapoora who was baptized on September 11, 1966. The first Thai male convert was Anan Eldredge, who was baptized on December 24, 1967. The surname Eldredge comes from the surname of a Latter-day Saint family working in Thailand who offered to adopt him so he could attend college in the United States. Anan was a great help to the missionaries working in Thailand after his baptism, helping them with the language and translation of church materials. Anan Eldredge became the first Thai to serve a full-time mission. Eldredge attended college in California and met and married a Latter-day Saint woman from England. Eldredge helped work on the revised translation of the Book of Mormon into Thai, and helped with the translations and publishing of the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price into Thai. In 1988, Anan Eldredge became the first Thai president of the Thailand Bangkok Mission, influencing a steady increase in church membership during his service.
Translation of the Book of Mormon