The Church of Christ in Thailand (CCT) is preparing to launch a major new global missionary initiative, signaling a renewed commitment to the international mission of the Church and the sustainable deployment of Thai missionaries beyond national borders.
The announcement follows a two-day strategic seminar on missionary deployment held in Bangkok on Nov. 19–20, which brought together church leaders to develop long-term plans aimed at strengthening organizational readiness and ensuring sustainable overseas mission efforts in line with the Church’s commitment to the Great Commission.
Addressing participants, Rev. Dr. Boonrat Buayen, president of the Church of Christ in Thailand and the denomination’s first missionary 60 years ago, underscored the urgent need for the Church to move decisively from discussion to action.
“The issue of missionary deployment has been discussed for a long time,” Rev. Boonrat said.
He noted that efforts have been made over the years, but remain fragmented and unsystematic. “They cannot truly be considered the Church of Christ’s missionary work because we lack coordinated structures and unified financial systems,” he said.
Rev. Boonrat observed that despite the Church’s 91-year history, it has not yet developed a strong international mission presence compared with churches in other parts of Asia.
To support its renewed missionary vision, the CCT plans to form a dedicated mission committee, pending final approval. The body would operate under the supervision of the Church Secretariat or Executive Committee and coordinate overseas mission strategies through a framework of “sustainable operations and holistic partnerships.”
Concluding his address, Rev. Boonrat said the Church is now prepared to take action. “This is a monumental undertaking that the Church has neglected throughout its history. Today, it presents a great opportunity for the Church of Christ in Thailand to unite and move forward together in mission.”
Catholic perspective on Thailand’s missionary calling
Offering a Catholic perspective, Bishop Paul Trairong Multree of Surat Thani, who previously served as a missionary in Cambodia, superior of the Thai Missionary Society (TMS), and national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, told LiCAS News that Thailand has already responded to calls for broader missionary engagement from the universal Church.
“In fact, the Church in Thailand, along with many other Asian countries, was called by Pope John Paul II to renew its universal missionary commitment,” Bishop Trairong said. “The Holy Father urged that evangelization be carried out both abroad, where needs are great, and at home, where the mission field remains equally important. Many Asian Churches, including Thailand, have taken this call seriously.”
In his 1990 encyclical Redemptoris Missio (Mission of the Redeemer), Pope John Paul II reaffirmed that missionary outreach remains a permanent responsibility of the universal Church.
He called on dioceses and parishes to support global evangelization and encouraged individuals with missionary vocations to “go forth” to places of greatest need while maintaining active evangelization within their own communities.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand acted on this call in 1994 by establishing the Thai Missionary Society, an initiative aimed at sharing Thailand’s missionary responsibility with the universal Church.
During the bishops’ ad limina visit in 1996, Pope John Paul II expressed his gratitude for the priests of the Thai Missionary Society, calling them “the ripe fruit of the Church’s missionary cultivation.”
He also encouraged religious men and women to renew their dedication to helping the Kingdom of God grow at home and abroad.
According to Bishop Trairong, the Thai Missionary Society today remains relatively small, with 19 members serving in four mission areas: Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Taiwan.
The TMS is not a religious order but an apostolic life society composed of priests from various dioceses across Thailand.
Members leave their home dioceses to live in missionary communities, sharing life and ministry in the spirit of the apostolic Church.
As Thailand’s largest Protestant body moves toward coordinated global missionary outreach and the Catholic Church maintains its missionary efforts through the Thai Missionary Society, leaders from both traditions describe ongoing initiatives that reflect Thailand’s participation in the wider missionary work of the Church.
