Bangkok(AsiaNews) – Dr Thanin Intrarakamthornchai, a Catholic who converted from Buddhism right after graduating, has been named Outstanding Academic of the year. It is the first time that a Catholic has received this recognition.
The decision was motivated by Dr Intrarakamthornchai’ exceptional contribution to ‘medical science and treatment’ thanks to his teaching, research and dedication to leukemia patients.
Speaking to AsiaNews about his prize, Dr Intrarakamthornchai said: “My [medical] vocation is the greatest gift God could have given, making me an instrument to heal leukemia patients. Without God’s help I can’t do anything. It would be all impossible. . . . In making me a doctor, God gave me a great honour. I take care of patients from a physical point of view but I also try to console them spiritually through my Catholic faith. For my part I try to do my best and leave healing in the hands of God”.
Dr Intrarakamthornchai’s conversion was a bit exceptional in a country likeThailand, where freedom of religions is well protected but one that is overwhelmingly Buddhist.
The third child in a deeply Buddhist family, he went to study at St Gabriel College where he learned the Lord’s Prayer without understanding its meaning.
Once he read the eight Beatitudes on a bookmark and was struck by them. He began thinking about what they meant, asking God for His help at any important moment of his life, including his medical studies.
“At university,” he said, “I began regular Bible reading with four Protestant friends who suggested I should convert. I once confided in a Catholic doctor and he took me to the next Sunday mass in the Cathedral of the Assumption. I understood there that the Catholic faith was what I was looking for, for a long time. I immediately went to see the rector of the cathedral, Fr Sangwal Surasarang (now bishop of Chiang Mai), and asked to be baptised.”
“My parents respected my decision to convert,” he added. “Each religion,” they told me, “is good if you practice it with care. My work and my career are a response to the Buddha’s wishes, which is to put an end to unhappiness and ease the pain of those who suffer.”
