German development cooperation with Thailand began in 1959 with the founding of what later became King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology North Bangkok (KMITNB). GTZ, now part of GIZ, has been working in Thailand on behalf of the German Federal Government since it was founded in 1975.

In the first few decades, cooperation focused on rural and agricultural development as well as vocational training. One example of this cooperation is the successful Thai-German Highland Development Programme, which was targeted at promoting rural development and transforming opium poppy-growing regions. Another example is the Thai-German Institute, which grew out of a vocational training project and is now a model for similar initiatives in other countries.

The focus of cooperation changed in the 1990s following Thailand’s rapid and successful transformation into an emergent economy, with increasing emphasis on the industrialisation process, modernisation of the state and climate change mitigation.

As a newly industrialising country, Thailand plays a leading role in many fields in South-East Asia. Bangkok serves as the base for several regional and international projects and over 100 international development organisations are represented in the city.

Thailand’s cooperation with Germany is also changing in light of the country’s successful economic and social development. Within the context of South-South cooperation, bilateral development cooperation between the two countries is evolving to take on a trilateral nature, which will involve Thailand and Germany working together to provide development aid in other countries in South-East Asia.