Thailand United States

Humanitarian

Cooperation

The United States has a long history of cooperation with the Kingdom of Thailand on issues that improve people’s lives, including health care, refugee support, the strengthening of civil society, education, and the environment. U.S. humanitarian engagement in Thailand is unique because of our close cooperation with Thai partner agencies like the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA), and the Ministry Education,among others.

Peace Corps

Since 1962, more than 5,100 Peace Corps volunteers have come from the U.S. to serve in Thailand, providing assistance in a wide range of projects including education,rural development, health, and environmental protection.

Currently, there are 100 Peace Corps volunteers working closely with TICA, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of the Interior in 43 provinces.

U.S. Embassy Bangkok

bangkok.usembassy.gov

@usembassybkk

facebook.com/usembassybkk

instagram.com/usembassybkk

Address: 120 Wireless RoadPhone: 02-205-4000

Thailand United StatesUSAID

In 2012, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Thailand International Development Cooperation Agency (TICA) signed an historic agreement that represents an important step forward in the U.S.-Thai relationship, highlighting our 180 years of friendship. The agreement will allow future joint development activities across Southeast Asia in the areas of public health, environment, economic growth, and food security.

USAID provided $6.3 million in bilateral assistance to Thailand in 2012, most of which was dedicated to public health promotion. USAID health assistance is helping to mitigate the spread of avian influenza, malaria and tuberculosis and increasing training for researchers and caregivers.

In the wake of the historic flooding in Thailand in 2011, USAID provided $4.12 million in disaster response and disaster risk reduction assistance including more than $1.1 million to augment Thailand’s emergency response activities and assist in the procurement of relief supplies.

The U.S. Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) conducts basic and applied research for development of diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases.

AFRIMS undertakes collaborative research with Thai and international partners on a number of diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis and has active drug and vaccine development programs designedto protect the global community from malaria, dengue, and infectious diarrhea. In a groundbreaking trial in Thailand in 2009, AFRIMS demonstrated the world’s first effective HIV vaccine.

In addition to resettling more than 64,000 refugees from Thailand since 2005, the U.S. Department of State spends millions of dollars each year in direct funding to NGO partners working with refugees on the Thai-Burmese border.

In 2012 alone, the State Department provided $16.8 million to these partners who in turn supply vital services such as primary healthcare, gender-based violence prevention and response, camp water/sanitation infrastructure, micro-enterprise development, training of community health care workers, and food and cooking fuel.

The Embassy pursues a whole-of-Mission approach to support and reinforce Thailand’s ef-forts to combat trafficking-in-persons (TIP). The US-funded International Law Enforcement Academy conducts dozens of courses on law enforcement for regional participants, including on TIP. We also support various civil society groups to identify and protect trafficking victims, and prosecute TIP offenders while continuing to commit resources to combat exploitation of child labor.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a decades-long partnership with the Thai Ministry of Public Health, working on important issues such as HIV/ AIDS, emerging infectious diseases, pandemic disease threats, and animal to human disease transmission.

In conjunction with the Ministry of Public Health, CDC developed the first successful drug therapy to prevent mothers from passing the HIV virus to their children. Results of this work have been felt around the world and prevented thousands of newborn children from contracting AIDS from their HIV-infected mothers.

CDC is poised to provide up to $25 million in grant funding over the next five years to the Ministry of Public Health.

Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention

Refugees and Trafficking

in Persons

Armed Forces Research Institute

for Medical Sciences