The Thai Department of Health (DOH) of the Ministry of Public Health first applied the World Health Organization (WHO) concept of the "health city” in collaboration with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration in 1994. In 1996, the DOH received financial support from the WHO to expand the "healthy city” model to five new pilot locations. This expansion was successful in creating new community norms for cleanliness (e.g., garbage collection, waste water management). This model also established a conceptual framework to approach the environment and health status by encouraging agencies under the local administrative authority to work together in a partnership network. Communities were motivated to develop a civic-minded approach to problems in which they are key players and have responsibility for the development of their neighborhoods. This model also promoted the effective application of public health law to protect individual rights and develop an orderly and civil society.