In 1956, Thung himself spent most of his time in Indonesia, as a visiting professor at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Universitas Indonesia in Bogor (the new name of Buitenzorg). Prior to this guest professorship, Thung and his wife Fernanda travelled through India, where they visited several higher and secondary agricultural schools at the request of the Indonesian university, to find out whether certain educational principles could be adopted. Following this temporary return to Indonesia, the couple also travelled to the United States, where Thung made contacts for exchanges of US and Indonesian students on behalf of the Indonesian university.