The International Health Policy Program, Thailand (IHPP) is a semi-autonomous program conducting research on the national health priorities related to health systems and policy in Thailand. The program, which is part of the Ministry of Public Health's Bureau of Policy and Strategy, aims to improve the national health care systems through generating knowledge and reliable evidence on improving health systems and policy to the public and Thai policy makers. Furthermore, the original aim of the program which was to strengthen the capacity of Thai researchers is still carried out through conducting policy relevant research in the areas of health care finance, economic evaluation, public health insurance, and health policy analysis. The researchers of the program are promoted to pursue postgraduate studies either in the country or abroad. During the last nine years, IHPP has shown an outstanding record in health policy and systems research. It has identified and addressed key emerging issues in health systems with the application of tools such as health economics, health financing, and health policy analysis. IHPP has focused not only on research, but on policy processes and policy utility of research findings; this demanded researchers to work closely with related stakeholders in each particular field. Most importantly, IHPP has physical proximity to, but an arm-length relationship with, policy makers in and outside the Ministry of Public Health in order to maintain policy relevance and scientific integrity and independence.