ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the rationale, aims, and methodology of the book. It begins by arguing that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Thailand are rather naive towards state funding and then struggle because of it. Throughout the history, state funding has influenced the development of the NGO sector. Especially after the 2000s when Thai Health Promotion Foundation (THPF), a public autonomous agency, was established, the landscape of NGO funding has been changed. THPF has become one of the most significant players in Thai civil society and one of the largest sources of funding for NGOs in the country. It has played a significant part in engineering the process of NGOisation in Thailand. However, the operation of THPF and its relationship with NGOs in the country are understudied. Arguably, THPF is a key element in Thailand’s unwritten and rarely described state and civil society. Studying and examining THPF is thus important, not just to debate its merits but unavoidably invoking particular risks to principles which THPF is seen to embody, most of all those fundamentals of the relationship between state and society.
