Background: The Cochrane Collaboration was first publicly introduced to Thai health personnel in 1994. The Thai Cochrane Network (TCN) was established with the very kind assistance from the UK Cochrane Centre in 2002 to encourage the utilization of research syntheses from the Cochrane Library and to facilitate the production of systematic reviews with the Cochrane Collaboration. There is, however, no empirical document about the development of Cochrane research synthesis in Thailand.

Objectives: To investigate the development of Cochrane research synthesis in Thailand in term of activities related to the research synthesis and systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library.

Methods: We collected information on activities related to research synthesis done by the TCN, number of registered titles, protocols and systematic reviews done by Thai reviewers in the Cochrane Library. We also collected number of Cochrane review groups that have had involvement by Thai reviewers and number of Thai reviewers for each group.

Results: The information about the Cochrane Collaboration was first publicly introduced to the Thai health personnel at the INCLEN XII meeting in Chiang Mai in 1994 by Sir Iain Chalmers. At that time no Thai health personnel names appeared in any Cochrane Review Group as reviewers until four years later. In 1998 there were Thai reviewers appeared in the two Cochrane Review Groups, Infectious diseases and Schizophrenia groups. Two Cochrane systematic reviews done by Thai reviewers firstly appeared in the Cochrane Library Issue 3, 1998. Since then there have been increasing number of systematic reviews done by Thai reviewers in the Cochrane Library on the average of three reviews each year. The same number of protocols prepared by Thai reviewers was also observed. Information about the titles registered with the Cochrane Review Groups could be retrieved from 2001. There was an average of two titles registered to the Cochrane Review groups per year during 2001-2002. Number of registered titles increased strikingly from the average of two to nine in 2003. Currently there are 66 Thai reviewers distributed in 18 Cochrane Review Groups. This progress might be partly achieved by continuing activities of the TCN. Since May 2002, there have been nineteen symposia on evidence based healthcare practices and nine workshops on protocol development for Cochrane reviews conducted for more than one thousand participants from several health academic institutes around the country. Discussions about challenges on the development of research synthesis in Thailand will be presented in the Colloquium.

Conclusions: Development of research synthesis in Thailand in the last six years was observed. The TCN will need to organize more activities for encouraging Thai health personnel to appreciate and utilize the Cochrane reviews in their practice as well as conducting Cochrane reviews relevant to health problems in Thailand. The TCN will also need to be more publicized how the TCN could support Thai health personnel.