Catholic priest Joseph H Maier – Father Joe – from the United States has been a Bangkok priest since the 1970s. This year is his 50th of celebrating mass in Bangkok’s slums.
During his sojourn in the kingdom’s capital, he nursed HIV patients, saved children from the streets and provided an education to the very poorest. The slum celebrity has been adorned with accolades and honours in Thailand. Remaining duly humble throughout, the octogenarian credits all his accomplishments to others.
Father Joe says…
“I’ve never had an idea on my own.”
Maier, known to all as Father Joe, the Bangkok priest, says the Vatican shipped him to Thailand in 1967 because they considered him a nuisance. He was a drunk and talked too much. After a stint in Laos before the civil war, he returned to serve the minority Catholic population in Bangkok in 1972 where he was told…
“This other…
