Seminary of Saint Joseph

The College General (Malay: Seminari Tinggi Katolik) is a Roman Catholic interdiocesan seminary located in Tanjung Bungah, Penang, Malaysia. The college's foundation can be traced back to the 1665 establishment of the Seminary of Saint Joseph in Ayuthia which was then the capital of Siam (now Thailand).

The College General traces its history to the establishment of theSeminary of Saint Joseph in Ayuthia, Siam in 1665 by the Vicars Apostolic Bishops Pallu and Lambert de la Motte of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. They officially requested the establishment of the Seminary to the Siamese king Narai on 25 May 1665, who granted them a large spot on the river Menam, and the Cochinchinese quarter named "Banplahet". King Narai requested that ten Siamese students be incorporated in the Seminary so as to learn European knowledge. Otherwise, the students of the Seminary came from Goa, Macao, Cochinchina and Tonkin. In 1675, Mgr Louis Laneau, who had been nominated Vicar Apostolic of Siam two years before, became Superior of the Seminary.

Among the first two priests that graduated was François Pérez (Francis Perez), born of a Manila father and a Siamese mother, who was later consecrated a bishop and named Vicar Apostolic of Cochin-China in 1691.

In 1680, the Seminary was moved to a larger location in Mahapram, also near Ayutthaya, and was named Seminary of the Holy Angels.

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