austraLasia #3032
"Do your duty and get involved"
HUA HIN -- Fr Dominic Savio Suphot Riungam was born in 1958 in Prachuap Khiri Khan in the Kingdom of Thailand. He is now the rector of a formation house for young men deciding to be Salesians of Don Bosco, at Sampran, 40 kilometers to the west of Bangkok.
The Salesian House at Sampran has a prenovitiate with 9 students, three of them from Cambodia, the postnovitiate with three clerics and one brother and the Saint Dominic Savio House retreat centre for children, under the care of Fr John Baptist Suthep. The vice-rector at Sampran is Fr Francis Cais.
Fr. Suphot told donboscoasia.info that this year the house will also host the novitiate after May with probably 4 or 5 novices, two of them from Cambodia.
donboscoasia (DBA): What is the situation of vocations for the Salesians today in Thailand?
Fr. Suphot (FS): The difficulty is that young people today do not dare to think of a vocation. It seems like they are afraid to think about it. Maybe it is also that today there are a lot attractions from the world like the development of technologies and they want to enjoy it all. They think they will not enjoy it if they follow Jesus. They fear they will lose the freedom they think they have.
DBA: What is the situation for the Catholic Church in Thailand and tell us about the proportion of Catholic students in Salesian schools.
FS: The Thai Catholic Church is rather small, just 0.5 percent of the total population. We are about 250,000 Catholics. The proportion of Catholic students in our schools is about 5 percent. It means, in a group of one thousand students, you might have 50 Catholics, except for Saint Dominic's School in Bangkok where most students are Catholic.
DBA: What do the Salesians of Don Bosco do in Thailand?
FS: We have three areas of activity:
The first is parishes in the Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, where the bishop is a Salesian, Bishop Joseph Prathan. Most of the parishes are under the care of the Salesians, about 20 parishes. Two out of three parishes in that diocese are under our care.
The second area is schools. We have five academic schools and two technical centres. The academic schools are in Udon Thani, Sarasit, Saint Dominic in Bangkok, Hua Hin and Haad Yai. The two technical schools both have the name 'Don Bosco', and are in Bangkok and Bampong. But we are in charge also of four diocesan schools.
The third area is homes for the poor. We have one in Chang Mai, for tribal youngsters and one in Bansak, in the south, for children orphaned by the tsunami.
DBA: What would be your message to young people in Asia, especially students in our Salesian schools.
FS: The life of the young is very precious. Young people are full of energy and we must do everything to support them. My message to all young people can be divided in two pieces of advice: first, be responsible for your life and what you have to do; second, participate, get involved, in the community and place where you are, your school, your parish... don't remain alone.
"Do your duty and get involved"
by donboscoasia.info
HUA HIN -- Fr Dominic Savio Suphot Riungam was born in 1958 in Prachuap Khiri Khan in the Kingdom of Thailand. He is now the rector of a formation house for young men deciding to be Salesians of Don Bosco, at Sampran, 40 kilometers to the west of Bangkok.
The Salesian House at Sampran has a prenovitiate with 9 students, three of them from Cambodia, the postnovitiate with three clerics and one brother and the Saint Dominic Savio House retreat centre for children, under the care of Fr John Baptist Suthep. The vice-rector at Sampran is Fr Francis Cais.
Fr. Suphot told donboscoasia.info that this year the house will also host the novitiate after May with probably 4 or 5 novices, two of them from Cambodia.
donboscoasia (DBA): What is the situation of vocations for the Salesians today in Thailand?
Fr. Suphot (FS): The difficulty is that young people today do not dare to think of a vocation. It seems like they are afraid to think about it. Maybe it is also that today there are a lot attractions from the world like the development of technologies and they want to enjoy it all. They think they will not enjoy it if they follow Jesus. They fear they will lose the freedom they think they have.
DBA: What is the situation for the Catholic Church in Thailand and tell us about the proportion of Catholic students in Salesian schools.
FS: The Thai Catholic Church is rather small, just 0.5 percent of the total population. We are about 250,000 Catholics. The proportion of Catholic students in our schools is about 5 percent. It means, in a group of one thousand students, you might have 50 Catholics, except for Saint Dominic's School in Bangkok where most students are Catholic.
DBA: What do the Salesians of Don Bosco do in Thailand?
FS: We have three areas of activity:
The first is parishes in the Surat Thani province, southern Thailand, where the bishop is a Salesian, Bishop Joseph Prathan. Most of the parishes are under the care of the Salesians, about 20 parishes. Two out of three parishes in that diocese are under our care.
The second area is schools. We have five academic schools and two technical centres. The academic schools are in Udon Thani, Sarasit, Saint Dominic in Bangkok, Hua Hin and Haad Yai. The two technical schools both have the name 'Don Bosco', and are in Bangkok and Bampong. But we are in charge also of four diocesan schools.
The third area is homes for the poor. We have one in Chang Mai, for tribal youngsters and one in Bansak, in the south, for children orphaned by the tsunami.
DBA: What would be your message to young people in Asia, especially students in our Salesian schools.
FS: The life of the young is very precious. Young people are full of energy and we must do everything to support them. My message to all young people can be divided in two pieces of advice: first, be responsible for your life and what you have to do; second, participate, get involved, in the community and place where you are, your school, your parish... don't remain alone.
