A group of colleagues, friends, students and admirers of the late Professor Ishii Yoneo in Thailand, led by historians Chalong Soontravanich and Charnvit Kasetsiri, will tomorrow hold a Buddhist service for him at the Bowonniwet Viharn Temple in Bangkok.
The memorial service is in remembrance of his invaluable contributions to the study of history, society and culture of Thailand and Southeast Asia during the past five decades.
Ishii produced numerous works that have become a body of knowledge for scholars of Thailand. Among them are the five-volume "Computer Concordance to the Law of the Three Seals", "Monsignor Pallegoix and King Mongkut: Catholic Church in the History of Modernisation of Siam", "A Selected Thai Bibliography: On the reign of King Chulalongkorn", "Thailand: A Rice-Growing Society", and "The 600 Years of Relationship between Thailand and Japan".
Ishii was the first Japanese scholar to receive an honorary doctorate in arts from Chulalongkorn University, conferred by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in 2007, in recognition of his contribution to Thai studies.
He was director of the Japan Centre for Asian Historical Records at the National Archives of Japan and president of the National Institutes for the Humanities.
In 1958, Ishii spent three months as a Buddhist monk at Bowonniwet Viharn Temple.
The memorial service will begin at 9.30am in the temple's Sala Daeng (Red Pavilion), in front of the Ubosoth (Ordination Hall) with a brief recollection of Ishii's life and work.
That will be followed by three short remembrance speeches by guests of honour who were Ishii's long-time friends and colleagues, namely Japanese ambassador Kyoji Komachi; William Klausner, president emeritus of the James HW Thompson Foundation; and Sulak Sivaraksa.
A Buddhist religious service will follow from 10.15-11.00am.
