Records of YMCA international work in Siam and Thailand

Dating from 1893, several attempts were made to organize a YMCA association in Bangkok, Thailand (previously known as Siam). However, the formal establishment of an association with a foreign secretary was not begun until 1929, after John R. Mott answered a request for assistance by a group of churches and missions with a $21 thousand gift from the James Stokes Society. The National Councils of the United States and Canada took responsibility for the project, and Walter A. Zimmerman was placed in charge of the Bangkok Association after a preliminary investigation was conducted by the International Committee.

Zimmerman began to learn the Thai language and established a provisional board of directors with Samuel Benthoon Boon Itt as president in 1932. The son of a Presbyterian missionary, Boon Itt and others had constructed a mission known as the Boon Itt Institute in 1907. The mission transferred its property, equipment and assets to the YMCA to become the Boon Itt Memorial Branch of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Bangkok. Although three quarters of the Bangkok Association’s board of directors were required to be members of an evangelical church, general membership was granted to "any youth of good moral character, without distinction of nationality, race, or religion."

Membership grew quickly at the Bangkok Association, which offered programs in physical education, Bible study, student groups, and hobby groups. A night school for young men and women was established in 1936. By the 1940s, the Association was overcrowded; however, an Englishwoman named Emily Collins donated her Anglican girls’ school to the YMCA in 1941 – allowing for the continued expansion of the Bangkok Association. Immediately prior to the Japanese occupation of Thailand during World War II, all foreigners on the board of directors resigned. When the Allies gained control of the country, the Association’s property was turned into a military hospital for Indian troops. The rundown building was returned to the YMCA in 1946.

By 1951, the Bangkok Association had a membership of 2,072 men and 351 boys, and it was estimated that another 225,000 people were served through vocational classes, sports, and outdoor excursions, among other programs. The Association continued to develop throughout the 1950s and 1960s via secretarial training and the construction of building additions, student hostels, and camps using money donated from the Buildings for Brotherhood Campaign, as well as local fundraising efforts.

The first YMCA association outside of Bangkok was established in Chiang Mai – the major city of northern Thailand – in 1969 with the assistance of the Bangkok YMCA and the Canadian University Service Overseas. From early on, the Chiang Mai Association was primarily concerned with rural development work. The Association helped to train Thai development leaders, built roads, schools, wells, and educated farmers on improved agricultural techniques. However, the Association’s connection with USAID was controversial among leftist students in the city. Furthermore, the rural development work in the borderlands region of northern Thailand was slowed by political opposition and the danger posed by communist insurgent groups.

Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the YMCA in Thailand worked to assist the flood of refugees streaming into the country via the Indo-China Refugee Program. In addition, the Bangkok Association shifted its focus to include more humanitarian work. Expansion continued through the construction of new buildings, as well as the establishment of new YMCA centers outside of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Throughout the 1980s, the YMCA of Thailand promoted development work, and the Northern Women's Development Foundation was established in 1989 to encourage Thai women to participate in development projects.

The following is a list of individuals who served as YMCA secretaries in Thailand, along with their dates of service, if known: