Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
settled on land adjacent to Ban Khmer. In 1835, about 1,500 Annamite Christians fleeing
persecution in Vietnam sought asylum in Siam, and joined the Yuen village next to the
Khmers. Rama
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granted permission for them to build a church, and in 1834, under the
direction of Msgr Pallegoix, a bamboo church was erected and named St Francis Xavi-
er Church, although it was perhaps inevitably known as Wat Yuen. Msgr Pallegoix lived
at the Immaculate Conception Church, where he had established a friendship with the
princely monk Mongkut, who resided at the neighbouring Wat Samor Rai. Pallegoix had
a deep knowledge of science, mathematics and languages, and the monk had an insatiable
desire to learn all he could of the West. At the same time, Pallegoix wanted to learn all he
could of the Siamese and Pali languages, and the two men enjoyed a mutually rewarding
intellectual friendship that endured for many years. When Mongkut became King Rama
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he was happy to donate more land to Ban Yuen for the building of a larger church, and
the St Francis Xavier that we see today was completed in 1867.
The community of Ban Yuen today still has a distinctive quality. This is partly due to
the size of the church and its bell tower, and the surrounding church buildings, especially
the Coupeau Building, designed in a European style and used as a gathering place for
priests and for religious ceremonies. Rama
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purchased the bronze statue of Jesus giving
sight to the blind man, when on his Europe visit in 1897 the king had visited the foundry
in Florence where it was cast. He at first placed it in the Chakri Throne Hall, and when
Amphon Throne Hall in Dusit was complete he moved it there. In 1945 the statue was
moved out onto the lawn, and then in 1949 transferred to St Xavier. Many of the houses
in Ban Yuen are very old, with a mix of timber and stone, and there are several restaurants
and food shops selling Vietnamese food. As with the Khmer community, members of the
Ban Yuen community feel themselves to be Thai but are aware of their Vietnamese herit-
age.
A statue of the founder of St Gabriel's College, Brother Martin de Tours.
One thing very much apparent in these two Christian communities is the way in which
the missionaries established schools, because the two neighbourhoods together have a
