We received the blessing of his Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Kirill, who called down God’s blessing on this work and thanked the congregation for the zeal for the Lord”.12
12 Orthodoxy in Thailand: Bangkok, Phuket, Samui and then everywhere. The interview with the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) // pravoslavie.ru, the 28th of December 2012 (date of access: 24.07.2014).
The construction of the new temple was completed by 2014, and on the 16th of February, the Consecration of St. Nicholas Cathedral took place in Bangkok – now the largest Orthodox Church in Thailand. The festive divine service was celebrated by the Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk, the head of the Administration of the Moscow Patriarchate for foreign institutions. The service was attended by the representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand and the rector the Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin), the clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church, the parishioners and the members of the Orthodox community in Bangkok and other parts of the country.
On the day of the consecration of the Cathedral, inside the Cathedral, erected was the Shrine of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Archbishop of Myra, brought by the Charitable Fund of the Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Archbishop of Myra, brought by the Charitable Fund of the Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker from Moscow specially for this festive occasion.
On the eve of the 15th of February during the feast of the presentation of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, the Archbishop Mark of Yegorievsk had performed the consecration of the Pokrovsky Church in Pattaya, and celebrated the divine Liturgy at the newly consecrated Church.
The Pokrovsky temple is located in a cottage suburb of Pattaya, and among its inhabitants are immigrants from countries where Orthodoxy is dominated. The opening of the temple in this small, but closely-knit Orthodox community, suited its spiritual needs best of all. I was appointed as a rector of this temple.13
13 The consecration of the Orthodox temples in Bangkok and Pattaya // rusthai.n4.biz.>news/-/news. (date of access: 25.07.2014).
The construction of each of the Orthodox churches in Thailand had its own specific needs to be met. So the idea of building the Ascension temple on the island of Samui had arisen among Russian-speaking people, from living in those places for a long time. In January 2011 the Committee of the Fund of the Orthodox Church in Thailand came to a decision to begin the construction. The blessing and the opening of the temple took place on the 13th of June 2013 at the feast of the Ascension. A Sunday school was opened by the temple in honor of St. Sergiy of Radonezh and a library was formed.
