Foreign Relations

Welcome to the Office of Foreign Relations (OFR), Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning (DPT). The OFR is in charge of international cooperation with respect to the missions of the DPT namely Urban Planning, Urban Development, Building Control, and Public Works Services. You can find all the details of the missions, roles and responsibilities of the DPT in the “DPT Today” Booklet available in a downloadable pdf format. The cooperation thereof will be in accordance with the frameworks and policies of the Government of Thailand which can be summarized as follows:

International Cooperation Frameworks and Strategies of Thailand

In the past decade, Thailand has shifted its role from recipient to donor country in terms of Official Development Assistance (ODA) and registered itself as a new ODA provider. Thailand has actually begun to provide ODA to other developing countries for over 30 years ago, particularly in the area of its relatively high expertise namely agriculture, public health, and education. As such, the former ODA donor countries of Thailand have adjusted their role of cooperation with Thailand into partnership or trilateral cooperation.

The present Government of Thailand has laid down foreign policies as follows:

1. To develop relationships with neighboring countries in all dimensions and levels so as to promote mutual respect and understanding; to promote cooperation agreed under all sub-regional frameworks and resolve all existing problems with neighboring countries in an urgent and peaceful manner and based on related treaties and laws.

2. To promote cooperation on strengthening ASEAN during the terms of Thailand as ASEAN Chairperson and achieving the establishment of ASEAN Community in accordance with ASEAN Charter by making ASEAN become a people-centered organization, and have a leading and creative role in international arena as well as expanding cooperation with other countries in accordance with cooperation frameworks both in Asia region and between Asia and other regions.

3. To promote close cooperation with Islamic countries and International Islamic organizations.

4. To tighten cooperation and strategic partnership with global leading countries and trading partner countries of Thailand in all regions so as to maintain and expand cooperation on politic, security, economic, trade, finance, investment, and tourism as well as to seek new markets so as to develop cooperation on resources, raw materials, science and technologies, and new knowledge.
5. To promote active role of the country in world community in terms of formulating international standards especially on agricultural product trade and regulations concerning intellectual properties, democratic values, human rights, humanitarian, environment and energy problems solving, and all cross-country problems affecting human security; to promote Thailand to be a location of branch offices of international organizations; to increase technical cooperation with developing countries.

6. To encourage participation in international agreements both bilateral and multilateral which are beneficial to the country; to rectify all endorsed agreements and revise all agreements which adversely affect the people and the society in an urgent manner.

7. To promote awareness and understanding of the people regarding global changes which affect Thailand so as to reach consensus on policy making and foreign policy implementation.

8. To build confidence among foreign countries and people towards Thailand by promoting correct understanding and international confidence on politic and economy of Thailand; to encourage the reach to the people of foreign countries so as to make positive attitude thereof towards Thailand and Thai people.

9. To protect and promote the rights and benefits of Thai people, Thai labors, and Thai private businesses in foreign countries; to strengthen Thai communities in foreign countries.

Technical Cooperation of the DPT

The DPT has undertaken technical cooperation with many other developing countries accordingly in the past years, most of which are in the form of knowledge sharing such as study visit, training etc. Currently, the Project on Self-sustainability and Dissemination of Land Readjustment (SSD) undertaken under the cooperation between the DPT and the JICA is one of the first partnership-based cooperation projects of the DPT. If you are interesting in cooperation with the DPT, making a study visit to the DPT, or any other foreign affairs, please feel free to contact the OFR.