<p class="title">Pope Francis arrived in Thailand on Wednesday to meet with the country's small but devoted Catholic minority on a seven-day Asian trip that will include a family reunion in Bangkok and take his anti-nuclear message to Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pope's plane touched down outside Bangkok around midday for a visit that coincides with the 350th anniversary of the first papal mission in Siam, the former name of Thailand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Dear friends in Thailand and Japan, before we meet, let us pray together that these days may be rich in grace and joy," read a message on the pontiff's official Twitter account before he left the Vatican.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Catholics are a tiny minority in mostly Buddhist Thailand, accounting for less than 2% of the population.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pope Francis will meet King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as well as the supreme Buddhist patriarch and Catholic leaders and students before he moves on to Japan on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His translator in Thailand will be his cousin and childhood friend, Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, 77, who has worked in Thai schools for more than 50 years.</p>
<p class="title">Pope Francis arrived in Thailand on Wednesday to meet with the country's small but devoted Catholic minority on a seven-day Asian trip that will include a family reunion in Bangkok and take his anti-nuclear message to Japan.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The pope's plane touched down outside Bangkok around midday for a visit that coincides with the 350th anniversary of the first papal mission in Siam, the former name of Thailand.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Dear friends in Thailand and Japan, before we meet, let us pray together that these days may be rich in grace and joy," read a message on the pontiff's official Twitter account before he left the Vatican.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Catholics are a tiny minority in mostly Buddhist Thailand, accounting for less than 2% of the population.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Pope Francis will meet King Maha Vajiralongkorn, as well as the supreme Buddhist patriarch and Catholic leaders and students before he moves on to Japan on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">His translator in Thailand will be his cousin and childhood friend, Sister Ana Rosa Sivori, 77, who has worked in Thai schools for more than 50 years.</p>