I am a 41 year old Australian biologist who would like to obtain a 12 month visa to conduct scientific research in a Thailand wildlife sanctuary. This research will be funded from outside sources. I have phoned the Bangkok immigration office to no avail.

My questions are:

1. What type of Visa do I need to apply for?

2. Is the Visa a multiple entry visa, as I do not want to have to cross a border every 90 days

3. What document(s) do I need from the Royal Forest Department in order to apply for a Visa?

John Carter

Hi John -

You probably need to find a sponsor from within one of the organizations at:

Ministry of Natural Resources

Or else team up with a University.

What would work for sure would be to structure program so that a Thai (organization, or individual graduate student) was also getting paid to support you - and, frankly, unless you speak Thai, you are going to need a Thai partner or assistant anyway.

My firm - through its www.bangkokstaff.com division - could take over the job of arranging a sponsor for you (who would then issue you a sponsor letter) - with that, you could get a Class B, or an ED, or an EX visa, depending on the sponsoring organization - and probably easy to get a one-year multiple entry visa. If interested, you can contact me via e-mail.

Once here, you would probably habve no choice but to make 90 day border runs - but these are no big deal - youy can do one over a weekend, with an inexpensive scenic bus ride in an air-conditioned VIP bus - and you would only need to do three.

Good luck!

Steve Sykes

Managing Director

Indo-Siam Group

Bangkok

[email protected]