The College General traces its history to the establishment of the"Seminary 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, Tonkin and China. In 1675, Mgr Louis Laneau, who had been nominated Vicar Apostolic of Siam two years before, became Superior of the Seminary.