The Salesians of Don Bosco arrived in Cambodia from Thailand. While the Salesians had been present in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand since the early 20th century, they had not established a presence in Laos, Cambodia, or Malaysia. The Second Indochina War, known in the West as the Vietnam War, significantly impacted Cambodia and Laos. Following the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia in 1979, the subsequent decade remained as violent as the 1970s. Thousands of people sought refuge in Thailand, where the Thai military confined them to camps along the Cambodian border.

In 1988, the Salesians were invited to join the humanitarian efforts in these refugee camps through the Jesuit Refugee Service and Indian Jesuit Brother Noel. The Salesian Province of Thailand appointed Brother Roberto Panetto to establish technical schools in the camps and to initiate the Don Bosco Children Fund. With equipment donated by the Salesians of Hong Kong, seven technical schools were opened in 1989. Brother Roberto Panetto, an Italian missionary in Thailand, learned Khmer while working in the refugee camps.

In 1991, Cambodia witnessed the beginning of the peace process in Paris, where Vietnam agreed to withdraw from Cambodia, and the United Nations would oversee free elections. Former Cambodian students from the refugee camps urged the Salesians to enter Cambodia, supported by officials of the new Cambodian coalition government. In response, the Salesian Province of Thailand sent its first two missionaries to Cambodia in 1991: Fr. Valter Brigolin and Br. Roberto Panetto, both Italians from Turin who had spent many decades in Thailand. They arrived at Pochentong Airport on May 24, 1991.

The Cambodian government offered the Salesians an orphanage, but their initial project was the construction of a technical school on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, known as “New Phnom Penh” (Phnom Penh Thmey). In 1992, the Province sent a third pioneer, Dutch Fr. John Visser, along with the first four FMA sisters, Colombian Sister Teresita Garcia, Thai Sister Lakana Yawasang, Filipino Sister Maria Elena Estacio and Indian Sister Mary Aayila.

The first three Salesians were joined by another lay religious, Br. Conrado Lagaya from the Philippines, an expert in printing (1992). Responding to the needs of a country undergoing physical and moral reconstruction, the Salesians focused on technical education and children’s funds. With the support of the Cambodian government and many benefactors and donors, they established technical schools in Phnom Penh in 1991, which were inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 1993, and in Sihanoukville in 1997. With foresight, they acquired land in Battambang, Poipet, and Kep for future developments, which would become schools in the early 21st century.

The Rector Major, Fr. Juan E. Vecchi, who was the first general superior to visit Cambodia in 1995, sent new missionaries to establish the Cambodian mission: Fr. George from Sri Lanka (1994), Fr. Oscar Zamora (1998), Fr. Gerard Ravasco (1999), Fr. Leonardo Ochoa (2000) from the Philippines, Br. Albeiro Rodas from Colombia, who was the first young Salesian in formation  (1999) and Br. Eugene Xalxo from India (2001.)

Two meaningful moments of the Salesians in Cambodia in 2024: At the right Fr. Eugene Xalxo, current superior delegate, during the deacon ordination of the first Cambodian Salesian in Manila and the next photo of the visit of Fr. Boonlert, Thai Provincial to Cambodia with two FMA sisters, Fr. Roel Soto, first delegate superior (2013-2022), Fr. Eugene Xalxo, Fr. Boonlert, Fr. Ceferino Ledesma, Fr. Joseph Khoa and Br. Chan Dara.