The ILO has many years of collaboration with the Government of Thailand. Important collaborations were developed with various Government institutions to, amongst others, promote the adoption of Labour-Based Construction Technologies. The 1997 Asian Economic Crisis put a temporary break on the rapid economic growth, and subsequent the employment prospects became less bright. As a response, ASIST-AP set-up various collaborations with the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, several of their departments and various Universities.

The Eighth National Development Plan initiated the process of decentralization of central governmental administrative responsibilities to local authorities. In relation to this, the Technical Training Institute (TTI) of the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Ministry of Interior (MoI) of Thailand started with a training programme for all 6747 technicians in the local governance structure, the Tambon Administrative Offices (TAO). For this purpose, ASIST-AP developed in collaboration with the Thammasat University Guidelines for Local Planning, Appropriate Technology and Employment for Community Development in the Kingdom of Thailand

After a training assessment in December 2001 it was concluded that a concerted is needed effort to develop a capacity at Tambol level to apply local level planning, and better include small scale contractors in the execution of infrastructure works. As a result, and in collaboration with the Department of Local Administration (DOLA), the Public Work Department Technical Training Institute (PWD/TTI), the Prince Damrong Rajanuphab Institute of Research and Development of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the Chiengmai University and the Khon Kaen University, ASIST-AP developed the current project titled "Strengthening Local Capacity for Sustainable Rural Infrastructure Development for Poverty Reduction in Thailand".