Elder E. Ludington's Baptism of James Trail and His Wife in Bankok

Elder Elam Luddington, serving as a missionary in the jungles of Siam, preached his first discourse in Bangkok on Sunday, April 9, 1854, in the home of James Trail. Following the sermon, he baptized and confirmed James Trail and his wife into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at their request. Only a day later, Captain Trail was arrested by the King of Siam, allegedly for a misunderstanding involving a salute fired from his ship in the Singapore roadstead. Trail was confined to a Siamese debtor's prison for 71 days. The facility was described as a space fourteen feet square holding approximately fifty prisoners, including those held for debt and theft. According to Luddington's records, conditions were dire; the King provided no food, leaving inmates to starve unless they had friends to support them. Trail endured torture and neglect, with many prisoners dying of starvation or the rack, and only ten souls reportedly emerging from that group alive.

Fuller account of this event (as retold in Go Ye into All the World: The Growth and Development of Mormon Missionary Work (Religious Studies Center, BYU)):

After “a pleasant voyage of thirteen days,” Elder Luddington finally reached Siam, his assigned mission field, on April 6, 1854, over a year and a half after leaving his home in Utah. Three days after his arrival, Elder Luddington taught the first Mormon sermon in Siam at the residence of Captain James Trail and his wife. That night, April 9, 1854, Elder Luddington baptized Captain Trail and his wife at their request. These two would be his only converts while laboring in Siam. The day after the baptisms, Captain Trail was summoned to meet with the king of Siam. While in Singapore, Captain Trail had fired a fifteen-gun salute at the request of some Singaporean merchants. However, Governor Butterworth had earlier written to the king of Siam to prevent his officers from firing salutes in the streets of Singapore. As a result, the king confined Captain Trail seventy-one days in a Siamese prison.