Rev Fr Thi Lam was born on 10 October 1975, in Gia-Kiem, Vietnam, the fifth in a family of five sons and two daughters. Fr Thi was a jeweller before he came to Australia with his family in 1992. After he arrived in Australia, he attended intensive English classes while he worked as a baker in his family business. In 1998 he entered St Charles’ Seminary in Guildford to study for the priesthood. He graduated with a Bachelor of Theology at Notre Dame University, Fremantle in 2002 and he was ordained priest for the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth on 22 August 2003.