ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overall picture of the development of Thailand-Japan technical cooperation, dividing the past 40 years of cooperation into two phases, namely, 1953-92, and 1993-2001. It explores the current status of Thailand’s technical cooperation with Japan and its relationship to Thailand’s National Social and Economic Development Plans, the main policy mechanism for guiding the country’s development. Forty years of development cooperation between Thailand and Japan have led to the attainment of important goals in human resource development. The chapter discusses the characteristics that distinguish Japanese technical cooperation official development assistance in comparison with other donors. It is important to mention that because Japan has an Oriental culture, to a great extent Thailand and Japan share common values and culture. Technical cooperation from Japan generally yields a productive and constructive impact on Thai national development.
