The Reverend Peter Lawrence Pond (1933–2000) was a New England clergyman, activist and philanthropist who worked with Cambodian orphans on the Thai-Cambodian border.

He was executive director of the Providence-based Cambodian Crisis Committee and was a co-founder of the Thai Friends Relief Foundation as well as the Inter-Religious Mission for Peace in Cambodia.

After graduating in 1960 he worked with impoverished children in Puerto Rico and New England, in a program on gang violence run by the Indo-Chinese Advocacy Project.

In the summer of 1966, Pond and his associates, together with the New York Society for Ethical Culture, co-sponsored the Encampment for Citizenship in Henry Barracks with participants from over 50 countries, where they learned the fundamentals of community development, self-government, and civic responsibilities.

[6] By 1967 Pond's efforts in fostering community development had moved into the slums of San Juan utilizing local leadership and volunteers from the universities.

[9] After his release Peter asked the United Nations for permission to begin a foster care program in the US for Khmer orphans, but was refused because it was felt that it was more appropriate for the children to return to Cambodia.

[11] He also worked with Thai street children in the Patpong section of Bangkok and provided food for detainees at the Suan Phlu Immigration Detention Center.

[13] That same year Pond and the Maha Ghosananda visited Pope John Paul II to discuss ways of achieving peace in Cambodia.

[14] In April 1984, he was asked to testify before the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the refugee situation in Thailand,[15] along with Kitty Dukakis.

Described as "Quixotic, obsessive, even fanatic in his quest"[1] to save Cambodian orphans, he was said to be one of those individuals who is single-minded of purpose that I think a lot of people find either intimidating or aggravating or downright bizarre.