I consider myself to be a hardy man. But I believe even I was exhausted from the pace and quantity of the activities of the current visit of his Holiness Patriarch in Thailand. It is unlikely for the entire period of his visit, that he and we, of course, slept more than five hours a day. The Bishop had only three days. Three days of hard work marked the beginning of public recognition of the Orthodox Church in Thailand. The Russian Ambassador Mr. Ostrovenko exclaimed with amazement to the Bishop at parting: “But this is the recognition of the Orthodox Church”. And it was so. His Holiness the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia is for the Orthodox flock in Thailand not just the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, but also the wise Archbishop or a great preacher. Here he is honored above it. He is the Apostle of Thailand. There is no coincidence that all our Thai people, especially those who met him, carry his picture with themselves”.8
8 About the Orthodox life in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The Interview with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand the Abbot Oleg (Cherepanin) // pravoslavie.ru, the 16th of February, 2009. (date of access: 24.07.2014).
Despite in the absence of the state registration, the Thai authorities have informed through the foreign Ministry of the Kingdom the Embassy of Russia, that although the official registration will be in the future, the Orthodox community is allowed to carry out their religious activities on the basis of the Constitution of the country guaranteeing freedom of religions.”9
9 Oleg (Cherepanin), the Abbot, the mentioned work, p.172.
The result of visiting Thailand by the Metropolitan Kyrill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad was that the Holy Synod`s decision of the 27th of December 2001 was the following: “To reform the St. Nicholas parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bangkok into the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Thailand. To appoint the rector of the St. Nicholas parish of the Russian Orthodox Church in Bangkok the Abbot Oleg ( Cherepanin) as the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Thailand”.10
10 The archive of the Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kingdom Thailand. The decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church (the Moscow Patriarchate) about the opening of a Representation of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand.
