Nonetheless, when the brothers tried to have the Society registered or incorporated so as to ‘legally establish the good news,’ the officials replied that there was no need for it. (Phil. 1:7) The director-general of the Department of Religious Affairs stated in a letter in 1974: “Since this association has the main purpose of preaching and teaching Christian religion, it is not necessary to form an association. You may carry on with the activities according to that purpose; so, refrain from forming an association for the time being.”

A year later, when two new missionaries applied for immigrant visas, the Immigration Division required a letter from the Department of Religious Affairs certifying that the applicants were missionaries. However, the Department of Religious Affairs refused to issue such a letter on the grounds that the Watch Tower Society was not registered with the department. The reply to another application for registration was identical with the previous one.

The missionaries received a second one-year extension through the assistance of the under secretary’s successor, who recommended that Jehovah’s Witnesses form a foundation under the local law. Thus, in 1982 the Foundation for Furtherance of Bible Study was established and registered, with a number of experienced local brothers as committee members.

This foundation, a cultural organization, is able to own title to property, including Kingdom Halls. However, the Department of Religious Affairs has so far refused to recognize the foundation as a religious organization. Such recognition would make it possible for new missionaries to enter the country. The reason for this refusal? The department has a policy of consulting with the heads of the already recognized organizations of Christendom in Thailand on matters pertaining to the Christian religion. When a meeting was called to discuss the application of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the representatives of those organizations (including Roman Catholic, Church of Christ in Thailand, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Baptist, and Seventh-Day Adventist) were unanimous that they ‘could not approve of the Christian Witnesses of Jehovah’ because the teachings and activities of Jehovah’s Witnesses do not agree with theirs. This impasse still remains.