RAJABURI, APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. — It is situated on the Gulf of Siam and is made up of five civil provinces, of which, originally, three were detached from the Apostolic Vicariate of Bangkok and the other two from the Diocese of Malacca (Burma).
The first missionaries of the Society of St. John Bosco arrived in Siam in 1947 and established themselves in various stations as collaborators of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. On 30 June 1930 the aforesaid five provinces were erected into a mission *sui iuris* under the name of R. This was raised to an Apostolic Prefecture on 28 May 1934 and to an Apostolic Vicariate on 3 April 1941, entrusted to the Salesians.
Over an area of 118,000 sq. km., the population is 2,549,739 inhabitants, mostly Siamese, with a notable percentage of Chinese. According to the statistical data for 1950–51, there are 11,173 Catholics with 55 catechumens; 300 Protestants; 380,000 Muslims; 1,870,000 Buddhists; 289,033 animists. There are 30 priests at work, of whom 3 are Siamese; 11 lay brothers; 55 sisters. There are deaneries; 12 primary stations and 8 secondary stations; 19 places of worship; 2 pharmacies; 2 orphanages; 13 elementary schools; 5 middle schools; one high school; 19 catechetical centers; 109 teachers. Various religious confraternities and Catholic Action associations flourish here. New missionary stations are in the process of being organized, and the work of evangelization gives promise of happy developments. The ordinary resides at Bang Nok Khuek.