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On 10 February 2015, the foundation stone of the Church of the Holy Prince Vladimir, Equal-to-the-Apostles, was laid in Chiang Mai, ancient cultural centre in Northern Thailand and the second largest city in the country. It will be the ninth Russian Orthodox church in the Kingdom of Thailand.

The first parish was established in Bangkok in 1999 in compliance with the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The first church, dedicated to All Saints, was constructed in Pattaya and consecrated by the chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, Archbishop (now Metropolitan) Hilarion of Volokolamsk, in December 2009. Constructed later were the Church of St Nicholas in Bangkok, the Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in Pattaya, the Church of the Holy Trinity on the island of Phuket, the Church of the Ascension on the island of Koh Samui, the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God in the Ratchaburi province, the Church of the Holy Royal Passion-Bearers in Hua Hin, and the Church of St Sergius of Radonezh on the island of Koh Chang.

The construction of the Church of the Baptizer of Rus is timed to the millennium of the demise of the Holy Prince Vladimir, widely celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2015.

With the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Archbishop Feofilakt of Pyatigorsk and Cherkessk administered the rite of laying the foundation stone of the church. Concelebrating with him were Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin), representative of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Kingdom of Thailand, and protodeacon Dimitry Kuba, a cleric of the Cathedral of the Saviour in Pyatigorsk.

Among those who are accompanying Archbishop Feofilakt of Pyatigorsk and Cherkessk on his visit to Thailand is Mr. Dmitry Petrovsky, a staff member of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.