The concept of developing an International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Southeast  Asia 
  began in late 1996. This idea was generated due to the success of the ILEA in Budapest, which
  began operating in 1995. A recommendation was made to explore the establishment  of a regional
  ILEA  in Bangkok, Thailand.  It  was envisioned that the ILEA  would  focus on enhancing the effec 
  -tiveness of regional  cooperation against  the principal transnational crime threats in Southeast 
  Asia - illicit drug trafficking, financial crimes, and alien smuggling.The ILEA  would provide a core
  curriculum of management  and technical  instruction for supervisory  
  criminal  investigators and other criminal justice managers.The principal objectives of the ILEA
  were the development of effective law enforcement cooperation within the participating countries 
  (ASEAN)  and the strengthening of each  country's criminal  justice  institutions to increase 
  their abilities to cooperate in the suppression of transnational crime.

    The Royal Thai Government agreed to co-sponsor  ILEA and 
     host it in Thailand.  During 1998, training needs assessments 
     were conducted by competent US and Royal Thai authorities, 
     with  assistance  from  authorities  in  the  countries of  Brunei, 
     Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the  Philippines, and
     Singapore.  The  needs  assessment  confirmed the mission 
     objective of  ILEA  should  be  drug  trafficking  and  related
     transnational crimes.                
		  

  On September 30, 1998, ILEA Bangkok became a reality with the
  signing of  a  cooperative  agreement by the governments of the 
  United States of America and Thailand. The Agreement Between
  the Royal Thai Government  and  the Government  of the United 
  States of America concerning an International Law Enforcement
  Academy established the ILEA and defined the objectives  and 
  management of the institution, as well as the roles and responsi-
  bilities of both countries in management and funding. As a result
  As a result of the agreement, the Joint United States - Thai
  Oversight  Committee was established  to oversee the policies 
  and operation of the Academy.  The Joint Committee, which
  consists of  representatives appointed by each party,  meets at
  least once each year and operates by consensus of the parties. 

  Besides the Oversight Committee, ILEA  relies  on input from the participating countries in meeting 
  its objectives. In November 1998, a Key Leaders Conference was hosted in  Bangkok to review
  the proposed curriculum for the core programme. The United States,  Thailand, Laos,  Malaysia,
  Singapore,  Brunei,Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam,  the  People's  Republic  of  China and 
  Hong  Kong  participated  in  the  conference.  As  a result of this conference, a six-week core 
  programme  was established and ILEA was to place an emphasis upon specialised  training
  course  presentations.  Another  Key  Leaders  Conference  was  conducted  in  August 2001.
   As a result, changes were made to the training schedule at  ILEA Bangkok  to reflect  Southeast
   Asian needs. At the last Key  Leaders Conference, held in May 2004, ILEA  made further changes
   to  the curriculum and training regimen based on input from the participating countries.

     The first course offered  by  ILEA Bangkok  began March 8, 1999, and provided ten days of 
     classroom  instruction  focusing   on  precursor  chemical   control  and  the  investigation  of  
     clandestine  laboratories.  Experts  from  the  US  Drug   Enforcement   Administration  and  
     the  Office  of   the  Narcotics  Control   Board  of  Thailand  served  as  instructors,  with 
     attendees  representing  Thailand,  Laos,  Vietnam,  Malaysia,  Singapore,  Indonesia,  the 
     Philippines,  the  People's  Republic  of  China  and  Hong  Kong.  This  initial  specialised
     course  was  followed  by  two other specialised  courses  addressing  white-collar  crime 
     and multi-national  investigations and controlled deliveries.  

  The first ILEA Core Programme, the Supervisory Criminal Investigator Course (SCIC), began 
  on June 7, 1999. Since then, ILEA Bangkok has completed its 20th session of the SCIC.  As of 
  October 4, 2004, ILEA Bangkok  has provided  training  to over three thousand eight hundred 
  eighty seven (3,887) participants, composed of  commissioned law enforcement officers, 
  prosecutors and members of the Judiciary. 
 
  The  permanent  staffing  at  ILEA  Bangkok now numbers 37 personnel.  Provided by the 
  Royal Thai Police is  an  Executive  Director,  Deputy Executive Director, as well as Chiefs 
  of  each of  the three ILEA Sections. A  Programme  Director  and  two Deputy Programme 
  Directors are provided by the United States. On staff at  ILEA  are 16  interpreters,  as  
  instruction  at  ILEA  courses is translated  into  Mandarin Chinese, Bahasa Indonesian,
  Khmer (Cambodian), Vietnamese and Thai/Lao. 

   The venue for ILEA training is our recently constructed 
   state-of-the-art Academy.  It is located on Royal Thai 
   Police property near the Donmuang Airport, at 
   88/8 Moo3, Vibhavadee-Rangsit Road, Laksi, 
   Bangkok 10210.